Survivors

Just because you don’t see the scar
Doesn’t mean I haven’t lived hard.
Turned away by family
And no friends on the street,
I settle in any place
Not taken aback by my face.
The darkness is there, in my eyes
For all to share, it comes as no surprise.
Some will accept me
And find hope in what they do see,
But others move past
Certain that I surely will not last.
Burdened too much by the pain
That burns all the same
For me and the others brought low
By the ones who should’ve held us close.
We move on-
Feeling somehow, somewhere we belong.

© 2021 Jeff E. Brown. All rights reserved.