18-year Rosa lives at home in Cork city with her mother Clair and her father Rico, her brother Brú (21) and Elmo the dog of course - and they greatly help with Rico’s care as they live together since 2020 with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in their lives.
Rosa, pictured here with her dad Rico who is living with MND, wrote a poem about “No Accessibility” which was published last week in the Irish Times ‘Fighting Words’ supplement.
Her family are very proud of her and asked us to share this piece. Thanks to Rosa for penning this poem to raise awareness of some of the issues their family face and also other people with MND.
Here is Rosa’s poem called “No Accessibility” that she wrote.
Here is Rosa’s poem called “No Accessibility” that she wrote.
We want to be out like a normal family,
But there’s no accessibility.
We’re crossing paths continuously,
Because there is No Accessibility.
We are always on the lookout,
Watching for obstacles blocking the ways,
A continuous cycle of stopping… and starting,
Trying to find the accessible way.
We want to be out like a normal family,
Exploring the world from the land to the sea.
We want to be out like a normal family,
But ‘normal’ isn’t the way the world will let us be.
We want to be out like a ‘normal’ family,
But ‘normal’ isn’t the way We see.
We want to be out like a ‘normal’ family,
But the world isn’t designed with Accessibility.
We want to be out like a ‘normal’ family,
But this is Normal for people like me.
Poem: No Accessibility – The Irish Times
But there’s no accessibility.
We’re crossing paths continuously,
Because there is No Accessibility.
We are always on the lookout,
Watching for obstacles blocking the ways,
A continuous cycle of stopping… and starting,
Trying to find the accessible way.
We want to be out like a normal family,
Exploring the world from the land to the sea.
We want to be out like a normal family,
But ‘normal’ isn’t the way the world will let us be.
We want to be out like a ‘normal’ family,
But ‘normal’ isn’t the way We see.
We want to be out like a ‘normal’ family,
But the world isn’t designed with Accessibility.
We want to be out like a ‘normal’ family,
But this is Normal for people like me.
Poem: No Accessibility – The Irish Times
