Inclusion - some Poems

Don’t mess with my holiday plans

When my daughter was a baby
Someone gave me a poem about
How having a disabled child was like
Setting off on holiday to Italy and
Ending up in Holland instead.

I said thanks,
Pondered the poem for years
Not quite able to put my finger on my discomfort
Until I started thinking about how to get the local CDU
To buy the ‘Welcome Pack’.
Then I realised why the message was so wrong.

So I said to them
‘Forget Holland, why change your plans.
The way I see it, it’s like going to Paris for the first time
Determined to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
When you arrive there is a general strike on
And you’re flung into a political situation that you
Never had to think about before.
Your innate humanity tells you to take the path of justice,
‘Liberty, humanity, fraternity’,
So you remember that goal, the top of the tower,
And one by one
You work out a way to go
Under, over, around and through
The barriers that sometimes seem
Unsurmountable.

Along the way you realise
That by every barrier
Is a group of allies.
Maybe they aren’t the ones that you were expecting,
A raggle taggle bunch
You would never have come across without the strike.
But then where would we be without trade unions –
Working long hours for low pay? (!!!)
In a world where the rich and powerful remain unchallenged.

So,
The trek to the top of the tower takes longer than you planned,
The route is winding, goes backwards sometimes.
But the friends you meet along the way sustain you,
And the view when you get there…
I’ll let you know
But from where we stand it’s looking good,
What’s more, it’s still Paris.

DON’T MESS WITH MY HOLIDAY PLANS’

Liz Wilson 2006

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