I sit tonight
To re-write
The poems on my friends
I discarded
Because they were ‘too-childish’.

I.

Shared food
(I get the biggest share).
Fights.
(Can you stop being this rude?).
Hugs.
(I’ll miss you, these vacations).
Orange ice-creams
(Your tongue looks like a circus)
Forgotten homework
(We had a test? I’m failing.)
Crumpled notes.
(Ma’am, it’s just scrap paper).
Spider-web dreams.
(We’ll change the world).
Butterfly wings.
(We’ll soar together..)

Look at us.

Happy.

We are each other’s routine,
We know what the other’s favorite song is.
We write poems together
sometimes;
Race across
The quadrangle
And the wind hits our faces.

We are free.

Every day
Is a ferris wheel.
We know what it feels like
To be so happy,
We forget everything that’s
Going to hit us.

We make mistakes
But we’re going to end up okay.

—–

II.

Group video calls
(where everyone is late).
Group whatsapp chats
(almost dead group).
Shared playlists
(Has about thirty songs now).
Cancelled get-together plans.
(next time, I promise).
Class photographs
(everyone looks terrible).
Weekly check-ins.
(You sure you’re doing good?).

Look at us.

Promises break.
Conversations stay.
We drift apart.
We come together.

The world collapses,
We stand.

We collapse into each other.

We fight our monsters,
We tear apart each other’s fears.
We forget memories
Then make new ones.

We’re kids
Stuck in the middle
Of destruction.
We don’t know
Where we’re going,
What’s happening,
Where we’re going to end up.

Are we going to turn out okay?