The Listening World
A Volcano Named Junnuru
UNRESTRICTED INTEREST —January 31, 2020
I first met Mark Eati, a nonspeaking student at the South Education Center, just short of three years ago. Since then, he has grown from one word to one poem to one chapbook to conference presenter to co-founding his own advocacy and co-housing non-profit, the Autism Sibs Universe (ASU). Along the way he has enlisted his brother Max, who is also nonspeaking, as his collaborator in all things. In writing together, they wield an astounding balance of simplicity and surprise, always expanding my understanding of autistic experience.
Mark and Max smell water the way I smell coffee.
Awed
Awe arrives as the sound of string instruments
Awe arrives as the feel of a silky shirt
Awe arrives as the taste of coriander spice
Awe arrives as the sight of a seal
Awe arrives as the smell of water
They revel in the idea of “zero point,” which is a state of meditative presence.
May
May today be awake
May today be awake with scent
May today be awake with the scent of flowers
May today be awake with quality
May today be awake with the quality of motion
May tomorrow be awake with time
May tomorrow be awake with the reality of time
May tomorrow be awake with touch
May tomorrow be awake with the touch of zero
They harness the alapa–the underlying rhythmic structure of an Indian raga–to reinvent the autistic body as the “alapa body,” a porous mode of being suffused with musical patterns and intensities.
