Belonging and Inclusion

by Erica B Donaldson-Ellison 

Erica is a published author and poet. In this piece she explores what belonging and inclusion really mean, and what happens when it goes wrong.

Website: https://ericabdonaldsonellison.medium.com

I am invited to your table “ Welcome. Come : Eat”,  you say 

And, I am hungry so 

 I am tempted 

 And, I quickly take up the opportunity 

Yet, a lingering doubt reminds me that I have visited here before 

I know the routine 

 and I am aware that sometimes  

the offer to share and to eat, can be very quickly usurped or snatched away even before I reach my seat 

Therefore 

 I am prepared that what I see may be an imaginary illusion 

A seasonal figmented splendour, perhaps a presumed grandeur, that is momentarily conjured up for a theatrical special occasion  

Merely meant to induce hope 

 When, a simple everyday nutritious meal would suffice, in order to ease the cravings that clutter my stomach and that stress my mind 

Is it a ruse? 

Could it be too good to be true? 

I  only wanted just 

 to be seated at  

the shared table, taking my proffered place 

 where food and drink are offered to us equally 

 to sustain our friendly get together 

If only this was a buffet where there was no head at the table? 

No cook on hand, calling us all to attention when the chef deemed it necessary, but 

Equity and inclusion present in a meal that is constantly available 

 so that each visiting guest has equal status 

Each of us being free to have the opportunity to pick and to choose however much we can consume  at our own pace and whenever our appetite is sparked because 

Although I received my treasured one-time invite to this special banquet 

I know that the doors to your welcome generally remain barred 

So, before I am consumed by my growing hunger 

 I seek to find my joy in looking elsewhere 

Searching and finding new reliable friends who 

At any hour, have doors that  

constantly  

remain  

regularly, open.