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 thats life. We rely heavily on our five sensestaste, smell, touch, sight, and hearingbut 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 on Joy Olrees own five senses. She was, as Lady Gaga says, born this waywith 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. RAGGED RISE Ragged rise I live careful not to see what there is to feel. Fair the well my child say therell never be ever cause to doubt what it is my place here on earth to be. Ragged rise I go climbing to the top up the mountain side staring at the heavens waiting for the answers. Peaceful though I am I would give it all if only you would ask. Ragged rise I see man in all his glory weathered worn but whole, scattered torn they roam sheltered from lifes storm. Ragged but to rise over and again down but never out thus it seems my life.