I have not truly suffered,
surely, I have had many
bad days, bad months, bad years,
but, I have not truly suffered,
in our internal eye,
our personal grief is eternally
worse that those of our neighbors,
each heartbreak is worse than
any previously suffered,
each injury, each devastating loss
has no historical parallel
in our own eyes,
but, I have never marched
at force across great expanses,
leaving behind a home
built by countless generations
of my ancestral blood,
but, I have never been held,
tattooed, wasting away,
a skeleton man, dying
for another’s twisted world view,
but, I have never faced
a fire hose, been gnawed and mauled
by fire breathing police dogs
because I wanted to be viewed
as human,
but, I have never starved,
a face among millions in
an arid desert,
watching my child dissolve
into the soil as though
they never existed,
so, I have not truly suffered,
surely, I have had many
bad days, bad months, bad years,
but, none no worse than
those of a countless million
souls suffering everyday…
Darrell Gahm
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-have-not-truly-suffered/
