People Don't Trust Us Poem by Maya Hanson

People don't trust us, they put us in boxes,
they shake their heads when we tell them the truth
You're just a child, you don't know the world
even when we tell them
some of us have been through more than you can ever dream

Just because our eyes opened later than yours
doesn't mean we have no voice, we have no mind

If you leave us on a cliff to live and learn
seems to me like it's your job to listen
to what was below it, what took a bite of our soul

Count your blessings, they've always told us
but sometimes our ears are still ringing from the battle cries and gunshots
and our blessings cower in the face of danger

When we scream they cover our mouths, turn our heads
We're just the bounty, the price they paid for all the sunsets
And if they combine us in our cage into one soft whisper from the dead
instead of a million shrieking lonely voices
it's much easier to deal with

Now we've come out the other side of a tunnel they can't see
Now our stories are written but left forever unread
You're just a child, you don't know the world