Coffee Cup Stains

Life is complicated, plain and simple.



What we see is not what anyone else sees. We see a red rose, but no one else sees that same red, for no one else has our eyes. And that's life. We rely heavily on our five senses-taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing-but only we can taste, smell, feel, see or hear how we do.



The poetry included in Coffee Cup Stains: Thoughts from an Autistic Poet is based solely on Joy Olree's own five senses. She was, as Lady Gaga says, born this way-with autism, in a world that cannot fully grasp the meaning. In this new poetry collection, Olree attempts to enlighten that non-autistic world, to make its inhabitants see what she sees.