My Existence is a Testament
Two lines really stuck with me in Lê Thị Diễm Thúy’s poem “sans papiers”, although perhaps not for the reason the author would think.
“weigh the seas you swallowed
to swim here”
Stripped of everything else in the poem, these words are like a testament to how far I’ve come in life. They’re a reminder of everything that I’ve been through telling me to look back at everything I’ve accomplished and to be proud of myself. To weigh the seas is to approach myself with the blunt honesty that some of the obstacles that I’ve come across were hard to overcome — but I overcame them. These were the seas that came crashing down on me from every angle, ruthlessly and mercilessly, forcing me to swallow seawater in between the times I gasped for air. I don’t need a fancy trophy to show that I’ve overcome many things in life because my being alive is proof enough of that.
