It’s good to see you
Much has changed since we first met
But we remain friends
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I knew you as Grace
You found your identity
You are your true self
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As you transitioned
You faced the truth in people
They can be wicked
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Cast out by your peers
Binary society
Where do you belong
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Flawed society
A victim of ignorance
I wish I could help
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Blatant mistreatment
Mistrust in authorities
Inescapable
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Unfair obstacles
Inspiring resilience
I see your courage
_
Relief found in friends
Shelter from society
A community
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Daughter and sister
A supportive family
Son and a brother
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A light in the world
You love in spite of hatred
You’re my friend, PJ
I chose to write in haiku as a way to symbolize my relationship with my interview partner, PJ. We do not see each other often and rarely speak over the phone or text. Despite the few words between us, there is a lot of understanding and meaning behind our relationship. I have been friends with PJ for years and wanted to write about what I have seen and what PJ has told me about his life during our interview. The haiku format is also intended to resonate with PJ’s inclination towards music and art. PJ’s courage has been an inspiration to me and I hope this poem shows how strong and loving he is.
Mistreatment is a haiku written by Eric Brennan. This haiku was written for a project in the class Nazi-Occupied Europe, taught by Dr. Andrew Bergerson and Dr. Gayle Levy at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Mistreatment is about Brennan’s friend, formerly known as Grace, who has found their true identity as PJ. The haiku goes on to tell about some of the things PJ has experienced, such as being outcasted and having constant obstacles to overcome. The story told by the haiku is like many stories from Holocaust victims and their family members. Family members would lose contact with each other because of things such as deportation to concentration camps. In these concentration camps, people of Jewish descent were outcasted, and horrible crimes were committed against them. If their family members were lucky enough to see them again, they were not meeting the same person that had gone to the concentration camp; they were meeting an entirely new person. Like the people in these concentration camps, PJ felt like he was stripped of his identity; being forced to be someone whom he was not. Fortunately, PJ was able to become his true self, and embody his true identity.