Tribute to the Survivors

We call ourselves survivors
of this truth we are absolutely certain
there are things in this life you don’t get over

We do not understand
but now we know intimately
the kind of pain one would do almost anything to end

We can live with the questions
that we know will have no answers
“Why?” we can take. “What if?” is a thousand times harder

We would never have chosen
To be in the place we find ourselves
But we will not submit to being defined by a single event

We are not ignorant
nor insensitive to social stigma
but we refuse to let others define our essence

We are forever changed
But we have not lost our identity
We are still mother, father, sister, brother, grandparent, friend

We are survivors
We are the keepers of sacred memory
And nothing can take away the memories we cherish

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