This Is The Willowbrook State School
after Elizabeth Bishop

This is the Willowbrook State School.

This is the child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the shirt
of the tiny child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the tear
in the dirty shirt
of the half-dressed child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the student
making the tear
that ruins the shirt
of a stupid child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the study crafted with care
that drew the student
who made the tear
in the only shirt
of the abandoned child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the needle held by a man
who wrote the words of the study plan
read by the student
callous to tear
apart the shirt
of the youngest child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the hepatitis lab
where they culture the virus for the plan
and chart the path from needle to man
then recruit the student
who makes a tear
while holding the shirt
of the crying child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is how you prepare the jab
designed in the hepatitis lab
then drawn in a needle by the man
to execute his viral plan.
As the bitter student
grabs the tear
in the shrunken shirt
of the ailing child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the camera brought to see
the children who were given the jab
of hepatitis grown in a lab.
It hopes to see the famous man
who made the children part of his plan
and hired the students
to tend and tear
the yellowed shirt
of the jaundiced child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the man always on TV
and his the camera through which we see
children restrained to get the jab
to become a hepatitis lab
as was the wish of the learned man
and his experimental plan.
So the students came
to sneer at the tear
in the filthy shirt
of the wordless child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

This is the way to set them free.
First the man, always on TV
who brings his camera for all to see
the children given disease by the jab
and studied by scientists there in a lab.
Next the coattails of the doctor man
as the viewers learn about his plan.
So the students go
and leave the tear
in the holy shirt
of the last child
that lives at the Willowbrook State School.

Description:

The Willowbrook State School was an institution in my hometown of Staten Island, known for its abusive and neglectful treatment of its disabled residents. “This is the Willowbrook State School” is part of a larger project exploring Willowbrook’s legacy, my relationship to it as an autistic writer, and the relatives I’ve had institutionalized there. Thousands spent decades of their lives as Willowbrook, held at the institution from an early age, and many died from starvation, disease, and neglect. Willowbrook is part of my personal history and it underpins a legacy of trauma, family destruction, and civil rights infringements that remains relevant today.