We hold it against you that you survived.

    People better than you are dead，

    but you still punch the clock.

    Your body has wizened¹ but has not bled

    its substance out on the killing² floor

    or flatlined in intensive care

    or vanished after school

    or stepped off the ledge³ in despair.

    Of all those you started with，

    only you are still around；

    only you have not been listed with

    the defeated and the drowned.

    So how could you ever win our respect？——

    you， who had the sense to duck，

    you， with your strength almost intact

    and all your good luck.