Vox Populi
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Alison Hurwitz: My Son Runs Out of Time
Evidence suggests that differences in time perception
are a central symptom in individuals with ADHD.
-NIH
Inside his syncopated thinking, there is only now:
a sound, and he’s a fox kit caught in sudden shift, head cocked,
one paw lifted from the leaves. My child does not feel time
in minutes, but in his beating heart, in impulse wind,
sudden gust buffeting his limbs- present, tense,
then bounding into wilderness: his pale legs blur
through stretching shadows until adrenal
clay coil open-fangs its diamonds into
copperhead, length of danger and he leaps–
stumble-shocked by snake; a dark hiss syllable
spelled across the path. His passage whiffles sand
brought in to tame the creek. It glows with sun-
down which is also now, a boundary, bone-white
margin where his footfalls soften, shifting. Trunks of trees
weave in and out of owl music, interspersed with rictor-fizz
cicada, such wonder-gallop in his skin, in his attention,
prickled with the bloom of startlement. Inside the current
of one breath: a sky inside his chest, a fluid moon.
~~~~
Copyright 2025 Alison Hurwitz
Alison Hurwitz (she/her), is a former cellist and dancer who finds music in language.
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I want to send this poem to everyone I know who has ADHD, their children, spouses, parents, friends. This is the most understanding description in poetry of attention disorder that I have ever read.
From the fox kit caught in sudden shift, to wonder-gallop, to bloom of startlement, to that last line, it is all so beautiful.
Many thanks for this.
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Please do send the poem to people who need it, Jan.
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I am so deeply grateful for this response. Thank you.
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Simply Fantastic! The unknown world of a mind opens up before our eyes and, through surprising and dazzling images, make it clear and empathetically livable on our skin.
Happy surprise today. Best wishes for everything, Alison.
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Thank you so very much for this sensitive and thoughtful response to my work! I appreciate it greatly.
Alison
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Such fierce love and understanding! I loved this, Alison. So many fine turns of phrase, too, that one can read and reread. Example:
present, tense,
then bounding into wilderness
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Thank you so very much, friend! I wanted to turn the language toward his way of being- a kind of word refraction. I am so glad that you liked it!
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Wow this is remarkable. A poetry that simultaneously describes– and somehow is the experience of– ADHD. and also serves to describe the compassionate understanding of watching a loved one who experiences the world differently. if only we had this type of poetic codex for every person in our lives!
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Now that’s something to think about: poetry as a guide for understanding each other.
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Brian,
That was my aim, and I am so glad you felt it translated. I am in awe of my son’s immediacy of connection with the world.
Thank you for commenting!
Alison
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Oh that last stanza! Opens my heart, this poem.
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Oh, yes!
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I am so very glad, Lynne! Thank you for reading and responding to my work!
Alison
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Alison’s poem does, I believe, what she sets out to do…force me to try to understand a kind of “syncopated thinking”—to put me inside an autistic mind. It’s a wonderful poem and one everyone with an ounce of compassion should read and study. Thanks, Alison.
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Alison’s poem does, I believe, what she sets out to do…force me to try to understand a kind of “syncopated thinking”—to put me inside an autistic mind. It’s a wonderful poem and one everyone with an ounce of compassion should read and study. Thanks, Alison. Just beautiful!
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I am so grateful that you felt my poem was able to communicate a different way of encountering the world. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!
Warmly,
Alison
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“Wonder gallop” “bloom of startlement” Wow, what a miracle of a poem.
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Alison is great, isn’t she?
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Absolutely!
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Thank you so very much for reading and commenting! Your words filled me up.
Alison
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What a special, heartbreaking, wondrous poem. It’s full of love, metaphor, and gorgeous lines. I love Alison Hurwitz’ work, but this poem is like music, unearthly-earthy (kill me for this, but I have no better word for now), it’s a poems that’ll stay with me. And now I’ll read it again.
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Perfectly said, Rose Mary — and reading it aloud adds even more subtle variations to this melodious poem of love for worlds we will never quite know. So moving and image-blessed, each sentence a whole world.
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Laure-Anne, thank you so very much for taking the time to leave this comment. I am so very grateful to feel that it connected for you.
Alison
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Rosemary, what a gift you give me with your close reading of my poem! Thank you, friend. I am moved.
Alison
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