Poetic 'Intent': Neurodivergence, Interoception, and the Body as Translator
This post analyzes the intersection of poetry and neuroscience, focusing on interoception, sensory overload, and the somatic experience of autism. Discover how the "sweet heart" survives the "shudderi
Intent
Crying, gnashing of teeth, a chill
Suffocation, anger, and heat
Anguish, tension, a mind's wild thrill
Sweat, nonconformity, a tremor's beat
So many words in the intent
honest and simple, to impart
that the sweet heart I present
feels a bone-shaking hate in its part
The body yields to convulsion’s might
To gestures harsh and required
For the heart in such a plight
Demands the strength of a chest untired
Every word, though soft it stays
Upon the ears, a gentle sound
Does not evoke the peaceful ways
Like breath, they scatter on the ground
About the Version: The Body as Translator
Translating my own poetry is an exercise in revisitation. This English version of my poem “Intento” (Intent) was a deliberate effort to translate not just words, but the precise somatic impact that my work carries. As both an author and a researcher, I approached this as a self-translation exercise to capture the biological intensity that neurodivergence imposes on feeling.
The choice of expressions like “a mind’s wild thrill” and “a tremor’s beat” attempts to map the internal landscape of an autistic individual. Within this poetic structure, the “hatred that makes one shudder” is more than a metaphor; it is a clinical and sensory description of emotion processed physically:
Tension and Delirium: These represent sensory overload and the somatic prelude to a shutdown.
The Sweet Heart vs. Convulsions: A profound contrast between my essence and an involuntary motor response, highlighting the complexity of modulating emotions in a hyper-reactive nervous system.
Interoception: This ability to sense internal signals is often a field of struggle, and translating it meant seeking the rhythm of that very tremor.
Even when the spoken word remains “soft,” the body maintains the armor necessary to withstand the internal force of being.