You don’t know my story

Thank you for not judging me
For you don’t know my story.

I might have been like you once
With family and friends, a house,
War medals and sanity
Til I lost them all to PTSD,
Depression or addiction.

I might have been defeated
And better left dead
But I still have my dignity
And value truth and honesty
I can therefore look you in the eye
And not judge you, not even try
For I don’t know your story
Whether or not you’re free.

Thank you for not judging me
For you don’t know my story.
26 December 2016