What do you see when you look at me?
Are you counting my money that I spent on my shoes?
I haven't bought a new pair in two years
but I notice yours are new.
Are you looking at my hair?
wondering, where do I get it cut.
Well I simply can't afford it
and you look at me like I'm a nut.
Do you hear me when I speak aloud?
Would you notice me if I were standing in a crowd?
I smile at you and the grimmace on your face
tells me what you think of me,
You think I am a disgrace.
Did you ever stop to think about what I have been through?
Did you ever think of anyone but you?
Look a little deeper and this you will see
a woman, a survivor, who fought to be free.
I am the nameless one
you read about in the paper
the one lived to tell the tale
who saved others from the raper.
Go ahead and judge my shoes
yours are sure pretty
but in mine would you last a day
for mine are filled with many tales
those of the unspoken
so go ahead and judge my life
tell me do you see the heart was broken?
Shattered peices that I gathered
some that were unfound
some now lay there dormant
listening for the rain upon the ground.
I see you have a comfortable life
and this I'm happy for you
but do you even realize
that I could have had that too.
So I will take the pain
that was forced upon me
and wait for the rain
and welcome harmony.
What do you see when you look at me?
Do you know what I see when I look at you?
When you are checking out my shoes
when I see the look in your eyes
I see a hollow person inside.

The survivor's burden is the ignorance of the unaffected.