I don’t know whether to call their survival courageous. “Courage” suggests that they had some kind of choice. To be courageous, or not. For them, it was to live, or not. For some, certainly, the decision to live is a courageous one. For them, I am not sure a decision was ever necessary.
I want to call them courageous for facing all that they have faced. But I suspect that there was never an inkling in their minds to do otherwise.
To work,
or die.
To be quiet,
or die.
To keep secrets,
or die.
What kinds of decisions are these?
I want to call them courageous for facing all that they have faced.
For making life.
For making home.
For the dreams they put aside.
For the dreams they realized.
For their nightmares.
For the ways I’ve disappointed them.
For the freedom they’ve allowed me.
For the freedom they’ve allowed me to fight for.
For all that they’ve taught me.
For all that they’ve taught me.
For all that they’ve taught me.
I will call them courageous for facing all that they have faced, though it may never have occurred to them to do anything differently.
They are courageous because it never occurred to them to do anything differently.
narinda heng 