Did you know it then
What your life would be
The sacrifices
The pain
The inability to breathe
That the sky would change color
That the sun would move far
The looks
The sneers
Losing who you really are
Did you know it then
How much pain it would cause
For no acceptance
And no grace
For them to only see your flaws
But how audacious, how rude
For you to not be grateful
Cause you’re here
Others aren’t
It doesn’t matter that they’re hateful
How much worse would it be
Staying where you were
No chance
No future
Which would you prefer?
So swallow all those looks
And ignore all the sneers
For your children
And your brothers
There’s no space left for fear
Did you know it then
When you were just my age
The lies
The schemes
That it was for a fancy cage
I didn’t know it then
The decisions that you made
At so young
So naive
Could I have done the same?
Felt those punches
Moved those mountains
All so I could see
If my children
could one day
Live a better life than me
If I didn’t know it then
I know it now to be
How beautiful
How courageous
My mother’s sacrifices for me
Justine Koffi is 4th year Strategic Communications Major with a minor in Computer Science (NABJ’s Treasurer)