Life is indeed an incredible journey
when I was young I grew up in a different place
that place was the cause of many wars

When we left there, I was a mere child and
it was to allow us children the opportunity
for a better life and a chance for normalcy

Yet learning a new language, being ostracized
feeling the pain of being different and carrying
the stigma of being a foreigner was a heavy burden

And were all part of the process of assimilation
of fitting in, of being like everyone else
oft a painful journey both physically and mentally

Years of being different, melding to become the same
and so over time you blend in, the differences becoming
less stark, day by day, year by year

Then as if by magic you are one of them
you graduate high school and college and get a job
you have children, own a home and a standing in the community

You realize that there comes a time to forgive
forgive your parents for taking you from your old home
where you knew who you were and looked like everyone else

Forgive the other kids that bullied you and made you feel unwanted
for they were kids being kids and didn’t know any other way
to accept someone from someplace else

Forgive yourself for feeling the way you did towards them
for in the end we all learn, learn to adapt, learn about acceptance
and learn to forgive.

Andreas Simic©