I spent nearly

One month in my birth country

I went on another

Treatment trip

But I also went

To come face to face

To remember my past

Though nothing was the same

My memories

Visions

Were verified

Substantiated

I was

Walking forward to the beginning

Because how else

Can one move towards the future

Without understanding

Coming to peace with

Where they came from

My hometown

Is Slutsk, Belarus

Though we also lived in Bobruisk

Formerly the USSR

My first 6 years

Of my childhood

Were amazing

Why?

Because I was

Allowed to be a kid

I went to kindergarten

My parents had a nice apartment

My grandparents lived in a house

That my grandfather himself had built

Love surrounded me

I was innocent

I wasn't yet bullied

Didn't know or yet

Had to be a referee

To my parents fighting

Those years in Belarus

Were the best of my childhood

And on this trip

I got to revisit that

To see those transitioned

Long before my time

Family

Learn my own history

Treatment portion

Notwithstanding

This trip, specifically going to Slutsk

Seeing one of my mom's friends

Whom I remembered too

Was a great gift

All in itself

I've gained the insight to

Continue on

My warrior path

With growth and peace

In my soul

So mote it be