Generations​

Issue 12

A mistake
A fluke
An accident
 
Is what I call myself
I crawl into my bed
To shield me from the world
 
It’s hard to keep on breathing
Knowing that it’s hell
Tomorrow is a burden
Today I’m just a shell
 
And as I think about
All the screams and yells
I’m lost inside my mind
No point in getting help
 
Yet while I ruminate
An album falls off my shelf
I pick it up and look inside
The photos start to tell…
 
 
A mistake
A fluke
An accident
 
Is what they called himself
He crawled past all the death marches
Then ran for the large hills
 
And had to keep on eating
Grass throughout the Hell
Tomorrow was a luxury
Today he could not fail
 
And as he heard around
All the screams and yells
He found a safer haven
A family that would help
 
And I’m alive today
Thanks to his rebels
Our family survived it all
He made a life so well…
 
 
A mistake
A fluke
An accident
 
Means nothing to me now
I crawl out of my bed
And stand taller to bow
 
It put things in perspective
As all my woes and wails
Were nothing compared to the story
Of his fight for life, his tales
 
I thank all of my family
For helping us all out
We made it through a Genocide
There’s no stopping us now
 
And I’ll keep that to heart this time
Whenever my mind is frail
Tomorrow is a luxury
Today I cannot fail.

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Pauline Aksay is a storyteller in Toronto, Canada. Her work explores mental health, imagination, and the limits of memory, offering an evocative glimpse into the human experience from the eyes of an outsider. Ultimately, her goal is to promote understanding and foster connection in those who engage with her work.

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