The thing and the whole of the thing

I will not condemn what anyone did to survive

but I will not defend a culture that makes us decide
to assimilate or die
or that defines survival as
running as fast as you can from the places you came from,
forgetting the things that have made you,
until all that is left is the burning in your lungs or
the pounding in your hear that only has space for contempt for the ones who couldn’t quite make it.