'Extra'

Re-defining narratives around 'additional' needs and support. A poem.

We don’t rank and judge the extra light some plant life craves,
Or measure the differing forces of the majestic crashing waves
We don’t calculate surplus water requirements of every hillside seed,
But ‘extra’ is how we frame any human additional need.
‘Extra’ is the narrative, more than a median number,
‘Extra,’ to the right of the bell curve, where ‘reserves you will plunder’
‘Extra’ is ‘too much’ for the standard national average
‘Extra’ equals scarcity, implies ‘resources you will ravage’.
But imagine if those needs were seen as…needs…nothing ‘extra’ about them,
Human conditions for living, not a pressure to be without them,
How much would *everyone* benefit if meeting need was normalised
As investment in life, community, where *everyone* gets to thrive.

This grew out of some thoughts I initially wrote as a note:

…and thanks to

Nelly Bryce

’s prompt last year it evolved into a little poem. It returned to my mind this week with all the media messaging and political ‘discussion’ around the economy, benefits, Special Educational Needs provision and Personal Independence Payments.

Love to all who know the pain of this narrative,

Ange x

Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash