“Circumstances “

We are not victims of our circumstances

We are the victors over them

Circumstances

gave us thin ice

and heavy skates

took our families and morphed them

into something horrific

Gave us cold nights

And thin blankets

no heat,

but rocket launchers

We have hearts that fed beatings

and eyes that can’t look away

and lots of time to think about it

We found the will to fight

so it gave us an enemy that can’t die

gave us eyes to read

letters of heartbreaking sorrow

Circumstances gave us rotting logs to make homes

then laughed a the tornadoes

taught us to count

so we’d know just how much we didn’t have

Circumstances took our food to make us weak

but we stayed strong

tried to ice out our hearts

but we stayed warm

Circumstances tried to plant seeds of fear

but we grew brave

and found the courage to love those

whom others couldn’t