Welfare Kid

I have never broken a bone

But I have felt pain

I have never had stitches

But I have been put back together again and again

Not all scars come from energies

Not all casts are for a broken bones

Some are from the words that can never be taken back

And others are from the feeling you get when someone you love uses that tone

Screaming, fighting, one room, one hell

My family was large, and our struggle never ending

it has made me who I am today

Someone who is strong, forever mending

I have seen the lives of others all around

I have seen the good and bad, in those that seem to have it all

I have lived through the struggle of never having a true home

But in the end we’re all the same, and every one must fall

It is our choice if we want to make it out alive

It is in us that we decide to live on till tomorrow

So much pain, all around the world, famine and war

But we can’t let ourselves drown in the sorrow

My life has never been easy, not from day one

But I’m still alive today, so that’s got to mean something

I survived my childhood, with all its uncertainty and pain

I survived five suicide attempts, and here’s the thing

I don’t want to die anymore, I want to live

I want to make a difference, like those teachers and nurses never knew they did

I want to grow up, have kids, get through school and make my own home

I will prove, what everyone thought I’m not that welfare kid

Who am I? Why am I still breathing, while others lives ended it too soon?

I like to think, it’s because I am going to affect others in way that will help them thrive

I am the girl who grew up rough, the teen that almost gave up

I am everything my past made me, and I am going to make it out alive