Scott LaMascus was privileged to serve on his father’s caregiving team during his battle against ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). He is the author of The Edited Tongue: A Family’s Year with ALS. He is a writer and public humanities advocate in Oklahoma City, USA. He is director of the McBride Center for Public Humanities at Oklahoma Christian University. We are proud to feature a selection of Scott’s poetry in support of ALS awareness month

Poetry by Scott LaMascus, writer, advocate and rare caregiver

Blackbird lets his papers fly

—Day of diagnosis

Dark caws above us

circled certainty, 

two years of symptoms.

Now Dad cannot speak,

one clue eternity is afoot,

yet he’s been master of control,

gathering papers neatly

from each doc, test, and query—

thirteen views of his malady.

ALS is terminal,

the last doc said to Dad—

honesty both brutal and kind.

Choke or starve, he said,

hard choices here.

Autumn migration begins

as Dad throws his hands in the air,

the first bird lifts off,

and feathers flutter to the floor.

The Edited Tongue: A Family’s Year with ALS, Scott LaMascus

Los Angeles: Bottlecap Press, 2025. ISBN 9781962390842 

Available to buy: https://bottlecap.press/products/edited

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