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a starrystarry
studded night sky
Cover art: “Creative Mind” by Jill Griffin, Interact Center.
INTRODUCTION
As someone who’s preached a growth mindset to students and teachers for years, it’s embarrassing to admit my surprise that after five weeks in a Northeast community center basement (ask Vince about some epic bus rides) we’ve all learned and grown and improved. How easy for even the most intentional allies to fall into that nefarious default of presuming incompetence! Ranging from haiku-like paeans to the season (Robert Bergerson’s “What I Like About Hot Dogs”) to searching parables (Vince Fiorilli’s “Life Out of the Jungle”) to wild experimentation that might find company in a City Lights anthology (Dar Cieminski’s “inthepink sunrise...”), astarrystarry studded night sky expands form and content beyond previous Cow Tipping editions. What unites the bits and pieces is defiance. You might not agree with everything our authors write. (I don’t.) But do you think they agree with everything written in the doctor’s report, those contact notes, that memoir or news article about what it’s like to raise a child with a disability? As Dar Cieminski aptly sums up, “They got another thing coming.”
Bryan Boyce
Cow Tipping Press November 2015
1
EMOJI
by Dar Cieminski
Well, let the client vent. And there might be
some reasoning. They say unreasonable people
need to look for situations and emotions instead of
just being like a wall you know. That’s kind of how
I feel, like I’m up against a wall. Like I’m talking to
a brick wall. I mean, they aren’t going to listen to
me. Maybe they’ll listen to Jesse. Or maybe they’ll
listen to Jeanie, I don’t know. Nobody seems to be
listening. So I don’t know what to do. I don’t feel
jealous. I just don’t like people getting something
for nothing. Like, I’ve worked hard for about
twenty-five and a half years and I still haven’t
gotten paid. I got little itty-bitty checks, but I want
to get paid for my classes. That doesn’t mean I have
to visit the doctor every day. I’m not going to do
that. But I like poetry. I like arts and crafts. I liked
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being with people — some people. I like animals. I
like my mom and dad, like helping them out. My
sisters. You know, I’m a very loving person but I
just can’t put up with some people. I don’t like the
book. I don’t like people telling me this or that.
It’s just too many things happening at once. I
want to do what I want to do. Instead of them
worrying about what I do, they should be
worrying about what they do than what I do. They
don’t make any sense. Then we got, we have to lift
the ban over at our house so that we can,
sometimes we can — where was I? Get that lifted.
So that we can be left alone. We can’t even be left
alone at work either. I mean I can understand from
a safety point, but not every little thing is a safety
thing. I mean the kitchen is a dangerous place to
be. Because there’s a stove, there’s knives, there’s
so-and-so. I mean they telling us that we can’t do
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this, we can’t do that. What are we supposed to do,
sit there and look like a plant? I’m not going to do
that. I’m not going to follow any of their rules.
They want us to stay there just because the state is
funding it. They got another thing coming. Me.
They got me to deal with.
I don’t care about the state. If they’re willing to
pay as little as $30 a month, well then lift the ban. I
mean we’re not going to do nothing. I mean so
what if there’s somebody at the house? There
should only be somebody at the house when you
come home or at least have appointments or
something. Not just so that you can just, I don’t
know, sit there and do nothing. I mean if we
wanted to sit there and do nothing, I could have
done that while I was at the house. But there
always has to be somebody there, because the state
said so. I think we should get that lifted.
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The say it’s always supposed to be like that. It’s
almost 2016. We’re old compared to you guys.
We’re old. I think they should show at least a little
more respect to old people. Not that we’re that old,
but we’re getting to the age where we’re not so
young, we’re not so vibrant, we’re not so happy.
And we just need to vent. And if we can’t do that,
we’ve got nothing. I don’t want my boss to be high
and mighty because she has a badge, just because
she’s queen of the planet. It’s wrong. I don’t like it.
I don’t like it. Sounds terrible, but I don’t know. It’s
what I think. Because I just needed to vent.
5
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT HOT DOGS
by Robert Bergerson
they are good to eat and it’s food and I think about
football games
6
HOW IS HE?
by Vince Fiorilli
There is a person I know about. His name is
Buster Bunny. He’s had a hard life. It’s also him
and I have had a hard time keeping in contact with
each other. When he was in high school he was a
normal and popular guy. After a while he met
someone known as Babs. They got along for a
while. Well after a while they broke up and found
out she was pregnant. They didn’t know what to
do.
Five years had passed and Buster started to get
back in touch with his kid. Both of them were
happy and enjoyed talking to each other. But
ended up having a hard time. Now they’re talking
again and having fun. And Buster was happy to
hear his son has things he sent his kid from the
past.
7
THE FALL
by Robert Bergerson
The jazz music sounds like going to a
restaurant, like any old restaurant. Like even when
you go to sports places. My brother-in-law is in a
band that plays jazz music. When I hear that
music, I think it sounds like a river flowing down
the street. It makes me want to dance. I think of the
seasons. Like falling leaves when I hear the music
playing.
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KELSEY GOES TO SCHOOL
by Dar Cieminski
Kelsey
likes
to dance
and took
ballet
and goes
to school
w / her job
as / a female staff
at jh is a yoga
teacher / is still learning
yoga teacher and student
and helps / do arts and crafts
and / do nail painting and go / to movies
w / bc and dc
likes to bake
cookies
9
WHERE ARE FRIENDS?
by Vince Fiorilli
At one time I thought I had the hardest life. So
one day I had a talk with my dad. We went on and
on. Here it is.
I told him, “Everyone hates me.”
He said, “Son I don’t think that could be the
truth. You’re a wonderful child and you never put
yourself first.”
But then I said, “Yeah, I have seen others that
are teased the same way. But also get looked at by
them meanly.”
“But Son, when you are on your walks each
day, remember when you told me about the sad
people you always tell me about? And how much
you want to help them out?”
“Yes Dad, I remember. But what does that have
to do with me and making friends?”
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“The thing I’m trying to tell you is with the way
you get treated at school and the others, maybe
you can go to the others and try to hang out with
them and all of you can be friends. Also son,
there’s always friends for you out there. You’ll find
them one day. Tell me what happens later.”
“Okay Dad. Thanks for the help, Dad.”
“You’re welcome Son.”
11
CHANGE
by Robert Bergerson
I pray for world peace. Why can’t there be
world peace every day? Why is there so much
fighting in today’s world? Why can’t people get
along without fighting? I’m excited about voting
for president. Because I hope we get another
president for change. I would like to see change
happen. I would like to see a woman president in
office.
12
THE HIPPIE CHICK
by Dar Cieminski
Thanks
for the comment. Thank you.
I guess there’s all different kinds of beautiful.
Very
well. Different kinds of love.
Know the concept. The vocabulary.
Vocabulary
is more like a sentence full of poetic words. Thank
you. Love
for your pet. A sheep is a ewe.
Very well.
Flowers are beautiful.
Flower magic. I look beautiful.
I want a big vocabulary.
I look very
nice. Thank
you.
Love
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me. I love
thee. I count the ways. I look beautiful.
You
are my best friend. Vocabularic
poetry. Thanks
a lot. I thank you very
much. The very
end. Hippie chick love.
I thank
you. I look beautiful.
Vocabulary
is a big concept of poetic words of a dictionary that
you
make up. You
love me. Very very.
Vocabulary.
It’s just a bunch of words that you put together in
a sentence. Love me love you love myself. Love
your pet. Love your mom and dad. Love your
sisters, brothers. Love your teacher. Love the help.
Love your staff. Beautiful
can be almost any word. Thank
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you. You can. Very
good. Vocabulary words. Love
you. Beautiful me. Thank you.
15
FRIENDS
by Robert Bergerson
BETH Hi! I’m Beth. School. I am 35. And I like to
go to dances.
BILL Hi! I’m Bill. I like to go bowling. I’m a
bowler. And I like movies, like going to the
movies.
BETH Well I like to drink some beer. And going to
shopping places.
BILL I like country music. I would like to sing in
a show and become an actor.
BETH I’d like to live in a group home sometime.
And become a famous dancer.
BILL I would like to meet you sometime. On a
date. And maybe get married.
BETH I also live in a group home. I would like to
get married.
BILL I like to travel a lot and see different places.
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BETH I have three sisters and five kids. I’d like to
go to the circus.
BILL I could go to a sports show sometime and
try race cars.
17
WHAT’S YOUR MISSION?
by Vince Fiorilli
Just today I got a mission to go out and
interview somebody about their goal for the future.
I accepted it. So off I went.
As I was on the way I saw a man who looked
like he could be a teen. I went to him. I asked him
for his name and he said, “My name is Frank. How
are you?”
I said, “I was sent with a mission to ask
someone about their goal in the future.” I asked if
he would do it and he said yes.
“Now Frank, if you could do one thing when
you get older, what would it be and why?”
He said, “I would love to join the National
Guard. The reason is that all the stories you hear
about them I feel honored for what they do. I want
to do it myself and maybe influence others.”
18
HAVING BREAKFAST
by Robert Bergerson
Like pancakes up north before I was going on a
fishing trip. With my mom and dad, family. It was
like a heavenly experience. It was great. It was
delicious. It was like life-changing. It’s like you
start this day off right. It’s like getting breakfast
with friends. It reminds me of friends, experiences,
vacations. Pancakes, French toast. Like cereal. It’s a
family experience, like breakfast with family every
year. It’s like hanging out with loved ones. It makes
you feel good. It reminds me of the holidays, like
Christmastime and Easter. Going to my sister’s for
Christmas. It’s like a spiritual meeting, like with
Jesus. It’s like going to heaven.
19
CHARM BATTLE
by Dar Cieminski
We went to Jessica’s house and we went to the
coop and bought some toppings for our sundaes.
The charmed sisters say, “Open door!” and there
was a vortex in the bathroom. They saw a demon
and they blew him up and said, “Dude, you’re
dead. Act the part!” He lay there. He’s supposed to
be dead but he came alive and the void is where
they go. Kelsey said, “You blew him up. You can
also stop time.” I said, “Window!” and then I
scared the reporter and tied him up, and the
window shut, and she scared him. He’s out to get
the story and he verbally hurt people by lying to
them. I said, “If you ever hurt anyone again I will
come for you.” Then I brought him to the house
and they had a conference. When they came home,
reporters were there and there was nothing to see.
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It was all very general. I drank something. Potion.
Probably #9, #5. Then they all sat in the living
room. Talked. Then I guess they went to the quake,
the P3 club, and had a happy ending.
21
GOD IS GOOD
by Robert Bergerson
I care about our country so much. We
shouldn’t be fighting. We should get the war over
with. Why is there so much fighting in the world?
It’s like, religion. I believe we should stop the
terrorists. Because 9/11 kind of affected me too.
Like is that the way the world is these days? My
mom and dad were alive when the towers fell
down. Why can’t there be world peace in the
world? That’s all you see sometimes on TV is
fighting.
I might as well talk about it. ISIS, the black flag.
They should believe Jesus, the God. I think we
should get the troops involved. We pulled back too
soon. We should have stayed in. It’s like the Middle
East is out of control. Because that’s what should
have happened. We should have kept the troops in
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still. We pulled back too soon. And now we’ve got
too much chaos. I think 9/11 never should have
happened in the first place. I blame W. Bush for it
too. Because he was on vacation. He didn’t watch
what he was doing. I pray that we don’t have
World War III.
23
LIFE OUT OF THE JUNGLE
by Vince Fiorilli
This car I used to have needed a lot of work
done. But one problem was I didn’t know how to
do it. Here’s a good example. One day as I was
driving a light came on but I didn’t know what it
meant. So a friend of mine told me that it needs
some new oil. I told him thanks for the help. The
next day I went to look at the oils on the shelves.
That same day I had to ask a worker for how to get
the oil I needed and what the numbers meant. He
told me that was how much they cost. I said thanks
and I’ll see him later.
The next day I was walking around and asked
my friend how to get it. I told him I was raised in
the woods all my life and also asked what is
money, is it those green things on the trees? He
told me the money you need you get from a job
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that you would work at. But he also made a deal
with me. He would pay for my oil and I would get
a job to learn life out of the jungle and see how this
life is. That really made me happy and I promised
him that if he needs any help, tell me, and I will try
my hardest to pay him back. After that we were
like best friends.
25
INTHEPINK SUNRISE
THEDAWNOFTIMEANDTHEPROMISE OF
DAWNTHE
by Dar Cieminski
Inthepink sunrise thethebluelugoonofparadise
cherish peace and love and sister hood
theealkoftime and the promise ofqthebrige in time
fourlove to andhoner
theidawtnofthesunriseslandofdolifindreames
islandofti me w are and the magicalthedoveandthe
walkthrough
Promise inthehart brige of life purpose
astarrystarry studded night sky
Diamonds inthesky your lifeisjust thebeinging of
the promise of inconniction yourroyle loves as to
be intwine your love is the path way to Sun set the
brige of time youtojust thebyegning ofyourlifes
26
DISABILITIES
by Robert Bergerson
I believe that people have a right to be heard,
their voices heard. If you’re thinking of writing
about something, you need to speak up. Make your
voice heard. Like they should have a right to go to
work. They should be treated in the same way just
like every normal person. They have a right to
make money, if you want to. Or have a
relationship with somebody, somebody else. Or
they should have a choice to either get married or
have kids if they want to. Or even where they want
to live. Like the same things, make the right
decisions. Have a right to have a boyfriend or
girlfriend. Or like go to activities with their people.
Or have a right to even, if they wanted to drive a
car, they can. Or vote. They have a right to vote if
they want to.
27
YOUR MIND
by Vince Fiorilli
Some minds are dark
But minds can be bright
I just heard a tone that makes you glad
But what does it do
makes you happy and open your mind to do
something fun
oh my, oh my, oh my
let’s open our mind and have fun
28
THE MAILMAN AND JAZZ
by Robert Bergerson
John, my brother-in-law, he’s a jazz singer.
Sings the blues. He goes on tours and trips. Like he
sings gospel music. He’s one of my family
members. He sometimes is onstage at Famous
Dave’s. He likes to sing the blues and jazz. He likes
to sing gospel music. He sings at the State Fair. He
lives in Wisconsin and he’s got a cat named
Stubby, a chubby cat. It died a few years ago.
I also had Dan the mailman. No, a veteran –
World War II. He got a Purple Heart. He’s a nice
guy. Sometimes he drinks a lot, too much. He tells
me World War II stories. Like how they drove a
jeep. They were his World War II experiences. We
listened to polka music. He was living in the 60’s,
like the Vietnam War and stuff like that. Like
Woodstock. I met him through work. I met Dan
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when I was on a trip to Florida. I stopped seeing
him.
30
THE THREE BROTHERS
by Vince Fiorilli
A long time ago, there lived three brothers:
Brother 1, Brother 2, and Brother 3. When they
turned 18 their mom told them, “I think it is about
time that you three go out and live on your own.”
So off they went.
As they got to the forest, Brother 2 told the
others that they can stay together and stuff have a
good and fun life like they already were having.
But Brother 1 said, “You are too weak for me to
handle. You can’t even pick up a feather! So again,
you are way too weak.”
Brother 3 said, “You have no sense of
imagination. Your artistic skills are so weak you
can’t even draw a stick person right! Well so
goodbye.”
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Now Brother 2 was so sad that he didn’t know
what to do with himself since his brothers put him
down so harsh. As the days went on, Brother 2 was
feeling a little okay, not the happiest, so he just
went to Mom’s house a lot. Just to say hi and talk
about his sadness and anger to the others due to
the way they put him down so harsh when he was
talking to them when they went to the forest to go
on with their life. Mom gave him a few ideas on
what he can do.
The one that he thought was, “Just be patient.
One of these days what they said will backfire on
them and they will look up to you for help. You’ll
see that day and maybe you can put them down
just as harsh. Well maybe not as hard, but you can
make it backfire.” He took her idea and just went
on with his life waiting for that day. But he was
starting to go nuts waiting for that.
32
When it was the day of their mom’s birthday and
he was picking some flowers, Brother 1 was
carrying a bag of flowers. Brother 1 passed by with
a wagon of statues of the family and he was
running out of energy and he asked Brother 2 for
some help. Now Brother 2 saw what Mom meant.
He told Brother 1, “I think you told me that I was
too weak and I couldn’t even pick up a feather. So I
don’t see why or how I should help you due to how
you have been so mean to me.”
“But please Brother 2, help me! I made these
for Mom and I have to get these to where Mom’s
party is.”
“Okay, I’ll help you and meet me in the middle
of the meadow after the party.”
When they arrived, Brother 3 needed them for
some help on decorating the area for Mom’s party.
Brother 1 just went and asked him out. They had
33
some ideas on what to do but not enough. Then
both of them were asking Brother 2 for some ideas.
He told them that, “I think you told me that I had
no sense of creativity and that I couldn’t even draw
a stick person correctly. So why should I help?
Well here’s a deal. If you can give me one good
reason why I should help you, I’ll help.”
“Okay, I know I went too far on that, but this
decorating is supposed to be for Mom and you’re
the only one that still knows what is some of her
favorite things.”
Brother 2 said, “Okay, and I want you to meet
me in the middle of the meadow after the party.”
So they got started.
They started decorating and they had so much
to do that they didn’t know where to start. Then it
was party time and when Mom came to the party
area she was so impressed with how it looked. She
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asked the boys, “How are things going for the
three of you boys?”
Brother 2 said, “It kind of started out kind of
hard but we’re doing better and are starting to
learn teamwork.”
Mom asked, “Is that true?”
The others said, “Yes, that’s true.”
After the party Mom said, “Thank you boys and
have a fun time out there.”
Now the party was over and the boys met in
the meadow. Brother 2 said, “Now you boys see
what I mean. We all have our differences if we put
them separate, but if we put them together we are
strong. Now do you boys plan on doing things
together or staying separate?”
They said, “We can work together when
needed.”
“Thank you boys,” Brother 2 said.
35
THE BIKE RACE
by Dar Cieminski
He’s racing with the snail and he’s afraid of the
snail escaping. He can race the snail up a hill, race
back down, zigzag up, zigzag down, crawl away
slowly. At a park is where the snail and the guy on
the bike want to race. The snail races the guy on
the bike, otherwise the guy would be racing the
snail. The park with some kind of animal, a tiger,
or even a dog or cat, just some things you want to
race with. A jackrabbit chased the bike guy and the
tiger chased the dog. He didn’t feel safe so he biked
down the hill as fast as he could. Down the hill he
went with the snail and the tiger. How about a big
white bear came and chased the bike rider down
the hill and how about this little surprise, you and
I go after the guy on the bike on the hill.
36
THE FALL
by Robert Bergerson
I like the trees and different colors and now the
weather is cool and we don’t have any storms
37
THE LIFELINE OF VINCE FIORILLI
by Vince Fiorilli
Hi, my name is Vince. I lived all over the U.S.
but the one place that I was born was Philadelphia.
And with all my traveling I grew up and was
raised in Minnesota. I’ve been in Minnesota for so
long I’m starting to blend in with different things.
My father’s name is Mickey Mouse. And my
mother’s name was Minnie. I don’t know how my
dad was. I didn’t see much of him. But my mom’s
attitude been going back and forth. As my life went
on sometimes I just wanted to yell at my dad and
other times I wanted to see and hug him. My mom,
she’s gone so out of her way for me that now I’m
trying to do the same for her. Yes, I got into a lot of
trouble throughout my life. But the worst thing I
ever done was getting in a fight with police. I have
five siblings. One of them I never saw when I was
38
a kid. But the thing that I loved the kids did was
two of the girls would throw their arms in the air
and would scream brother! Back then I was just a
small happy child. I was a very active person. And
was happy all the time. My best memory is getting
first place in a race. On the other side my worst is
going to jail. I don’t recall any nicknames. I had a
lot of friends growing up. But one of them who
made me feel like a person was in high school.
Most of the time I always sat alone at lunch but
one day someone asked if we could sit together and
I said yes. A perfect day would be exploring the
streets. I thought I would never have a good life
and would never have any friends. There was a
bunch of books I would always read. But the main
one was The Boxcar Children. I even have all of
them.
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THE BREAKFAST
by Dar Cieminski
the / breakfast table
the / most memorable food
waffles / w choc chips
and / scramble / eggs and sausage
w / spices and cheese / writing
on my Kindle Fire hd 6
poem at breakfast table
CONTRIBUTORS Robert Bergerson is a great poet, a very good poet. He likes to say what’s on his mind. It’s like enjoying life every day.
Dar Cieminski is a hippie chick. She likes to write poems at free will. She does have a disability. She like to do writing classes. She likes to do the reading. She also likes her teacher. She likes who brings her. She likes her friends. She likes her family. She likes the people that come to the reading.
Vince Fiorilli has always been on a mission in his life to see where he belongs. Or show to others that a disabled person can do what a nondisabled can. He thinks he may have found his spot now, here in writing.
Cow Tipping Press teaches and publishes writing by adults with developmental disabilities, encouraging readers to see this form of human diversity in a new way. For more information or to browse our entire collection, visit cowtippingpress.org.