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By: Ananya Garg  I sit under the greenwood tree Oh, the irony For I am colourblind The green appears to be red The red appears blue And in my darkened sorrow Red becomes my sad hue The greenwood tree implores Its innocence falling Like its leaves in fall. I wonder, why it covers me? Expecting nothing in return “I have loved thee.” It says You are the one visitor Who stayed. And I ponder Where do I find more greenwood trees I want one that breathes. Holds my hand, And puts me To sleep.
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By: Dechen Tamang  The moon fell, In slivers of silver pages For you and me To write to each other I remember once, When the world still remained upright, Unchaotic, I tucked a strand of sunlight hair Behind your ear and whispered ‘I’m better at writing words Than saying them’ Now, we have only But written words between us I’d give all of This paper world, Moonbeams of silver reams, People of origami dreams Lives of caged fear overturned I’d give all of it away In exchange For your touch upon my own, And your voice mingling with mine But the moon fell, For you and me To write to each other, So please, Don’t stop writing to me By: Ishita Khambete  I sat in front of my computer, staring at a blank page. My words seemed to disappear, my mind turning from a bustling city to a ghost town. I could feel time slipping away from me, and it scared me. When I went to type, I hesitated, my mind unsure what to convey. I couldn’t figure out what to say, what would be good. And when I knew what to say, I couldn’t figure out how to say it. And when I figured out how to say it, I wouldn’t say it. And I would tell myself that to not say something was to restrain myself. So whatever I had to say, I said it. After all, why let the block stop you when you can write? By: Ishita Khambete  I exhaled, the carbon dioxide in front of my face becoming visible. As I waited for Saoirse to come, snow started falling from the clouds and blocked my vision ever so slightly. I blew the snow out of my face, and I looked at my phone, and I saw a text from her. It said, 5 minutes. It was sent five minutes ago. I smiled a little bit and put the device back in my pocket. The anticipation felt like a mini and aggressive flurry of snow. “Roisin!” someone called out. I turned around and I found myself standing face to face with Saoirse. The falling snow dotted her curly red hair, and her freckles seemed to stand out against her pale skin. “Saoirse! Hey!” I said, hugging her tightly. “Hey babe! You look great.” Saorise said, her strong Irish accent coming through. We looked at each other, standing silently as the wind blew the snow around our faces, obscuring the sense of warmth that came with looking at her face. “Roisin, hon, should we try to get one of the benches?” Saoirse asked, looking over her shoulder. “Uh, sure. But won’t they be wet with the snow?” I asked. “Maybe, but it’s ok, because I’m with you.” she said, winking at me. I sighed and said, “Aight, let’s do it.” We found the nearest bench, sat down, and just talked. Then all of a sudden, out of the blue, Saorise grabbed my face, and kissed me. It was a beautiful feeling, warmth travelling from my lips to my face, and to the rest of my body. We never kissed in the snow, but there’s always a place for firsts. After all, who wouldn’t want to make out with their girlfriend under the pale sunlight and falling snow? By: Sanjana Karthik  We take human life For granted We treat a mother’s child Like they’re an isolated entity We see Through hollow eyes And empty hearts As if one tear drop Doesn’t stain their clothes Or one death Doesn’t ripple into more A life Wrapped by skin And blanketed By her warmth Effortlessly stripped And torn from hands The agony tugging on her heart Yields a new void As if There’s an ample of us For lives to cease Because of a war The colour of skin Your mother had bestowed Or the God you pray to In order to feel at home Is the reason for a life For someone’s child To be no more Their presence lures over you With an aching cold Their skin Into ashes But their spirits Deprived of a home By: Sanjana Karthik  He returns home With his buttoned shirt And maroon tie He breathes it in And lets out a sigh His backpack slouching Descends to the side And plummets down With a muffled cry He can’t disclose it Can’t let his parents know He failed his test Can’t let it be known He’s agitated about what an end of a stick Might do to him Frightened they’ll loathe him even more Petrified Filled with remorse He attempted his best He did his utmost But his parents insist For so much And he takes a fall... He ponders on if He ought to end it all As no compassion From his parents Assembled cold walls And little Jun Yang Feels all alone in the room Where the only voice He discerns Is his own And the only worries are “What did he do wrong” And the only inquiries he has Is “how to move on? And why is it every time He reaches out He feels his clench unlatching Feels his body trembling... Maybe this his body’s way Of giving up On everything But why? Why did we let him Just die? Die This young child Felt despondent, Isolated, And departed In the middle of the night A future Vivid, Promising Now dissipated In thin sight All because A single grade Was made To define His entire life Why? Canada, Parents must be enlightened With the notion That their children Have more to propose More to present ... Than their lives Because Otherwise, We have just have latched doors And no way out And these little children Will have no way to sprout... Written by: Risha Chaurasia  This is the story of two teenagers, Udit Anay and Valerie Jenkins. Udit and Valerie met at an interschool football competition and instantly hit it off, by the end of the 3-week long tournament they had fallen madly in love with each other. On the day of the Commencement night dance, Udit finally mustered up the courage and asked Valerie out, and to his great pleasure, she said yes, thus started the story of two misfits, who never gave up on each other. Udit I may be leaving Cherry wood with a large shining silver trophy in hand, in a bus full of hyped-up young adults but I was leaving something far more important behind. My heart. It belonged to Valerie now, she had said yes and we were official now. But we‘d decided to keep it a secret, to not tell our friends about it. We didn’t want to take any risks with each other. For us being together was important and not the tag or what people thought about us. But to be honest, being secretive about us was tougher than I thought. We’d sneak out and meet, talking and laughing. We’d constantly text and tell each other how good the acting is going on. We never really texted much though, mostly because we were so caught up with our work. For us, our career and studies were the topmost priorities and we both understood when we couldn’t talk because of practice or tests. There are so many things I wish I could relive. She shared in the joy and sadness that came alongside matches, when we won she was elated and when we didn’t she told me she believed in me and knew that I was an amazing footballer, she was always there for me. Once there was some misunderstanding between us and that time I was worried sick- I spent my entire day, trying to call her or talk to her and then when finally she picked up we had the most touching conversation. I remember Noah's party as one of the most beautiful moments we had, even though we didn't talk. The moment she walked into that room, I could feel it light up. The room looked prettier with her in it. Every now and then, I'd look over to her, and think to myself, "What have I done to deserve someone like her?" The party was at this very exotic place, which was one of the best pubs in town. We weren't a very large group, just an inner circle of about 20 people. A large table was set out for us, to sit and eat, and to pass time, all of us decided to play a game. While playing, whenever I'd look up to see her, she'd look up too, our eyes would meet and then we'd suddenly look away. Again and again, this happened, it was like she knew when I was going to look up. In the split second when our eyes would meet, I could feel the world fade away as I fell in the whirlpool of her dark brown eyes. I could literally feel our heartbeats syncing. There are so many things I miss, like the way we'd turn back and give each other a glance, the lies we told our friends to cover up our act. The thing I missed the most was the way she'd look at me, whenever we were standing and talking to our friends, I could feel her gaze on me. She'd look at me and smile like she was observing ever thing I said and everything I did. They say when a girl loves someone you could see it in her eyes, and trust me, the way she looked at me was proof enough. The one thing that I faced a problem with was my feelings. Not in a bad way, I am not a very expressive person, a minimalist if you'd like to say, I was never good at expressing the way I felt. Like this one time, a few guys were troubling her, said some derogatory things about her, right in front of me! I was agitated, wanted to slap the smirk off his face but instead, what did I do? I stood there like a complete idiot grinning, it was only after she had walked away that I did something. Thanks to Ron, he went and told her the aftermath, otherwise, she would've thought that it didn't matter to me. There were so many similar incidents. I always struggled with expressing myself. The thing I loved the most was the understanding between us. We understood each other when without saying a word. There were days when I said some pretty mean things to her, but in the end, she knew what I was doing, was for us, to stay with her. Just a look and I’d understand what she meant. But it wasn’t a smooth sailing, flawless fairy tale, we had our share of obstacles as well. But no obstacle was strong enough to break us, we never gave up, we kept going because in our hearts we knew that breaking up was simply not a choice. We kept on fighting for and with each other. There were so many times that I got fed up with this act and wanted to come clean but every time I asked Val to tell them she said no. She didn’t show it but somewhere or the other she was afraid, afraid that we may break up. I was very happy and satisfied with our relation, there was nothing else I could ask for. My happiness knew no bound when mom and Val got along so well, they had an instant liking towards each other. Many a time me, Val, mom, and dad would go on picnics or simply have dinner together, both my parents and Val treated each like their own, we were one little happy family. The time I spent with Valerie was one of the best and happiest times of my life, we were young and in love, our whole lives in front of us. But things weren’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows, the biggest test lay ahead, the sort of test neither of us was prepared for. Like the rain on my parade or the Montague to my Romeo and Juliet came my illness. In one moment, everything I had worked for and fought was taken away from me. Football, friends, Valerie, mom, and dad, everything I cared for and was once reality was not turned to a forlorn dream. That cursed day, everything changed, and not for the better. I had to change cities overnight, leaving everything behind and never looking back. The worst part? The fact that there was no time to explain or give a heads up, I had to abandon everyone. One day everything was alright, I and Val met for coffee and we talked about my match, Ron and boys came over to play PS and we were all so unaware of the nightmare that awaited us like a prey awaits its predator. I did have the chance to contact Valerie after my surgery and considerable recovery but I didn't. I knew her, she wouldn't give up and would want to be with me, I didn't want her to be engulfed by the fire that was set on my life. I wanted her to stay as far away as she could, but being the girl Valerie is, she left no stone unturned in finding me or trying to contact me. She texted, called, emailed, sent letter, whatever means of communications were possible she tried them all but I ignored them. I was very devastated by the turn of events and ignoring them wasn't easy for me, I spent countless sleepless nights thinking about her and reminiscing the good times and to date, I think about her. Whenever something good happens I think about her because I want to spend all the good times with her when something bad happens, I think about her, her being there for me, telling me how everything's going to be okay. The breakup wasn't easy in any way, I was hurt and sad but the power of love got me through. I knew what I was doing was for her, for her happiness, and to see that smile lighten up her face I'd do anything. I would go through a 1000 breakups for her smile. It’s been almost a year to the break up now, and if anything I only feel stronger for Valerie with every passing day. The person with whom I spent the happiest times of my life, today is just another stranger on the street. So trust me, if you love someone and they love you back, never ever let them go, because love, it is not easy to find. Written by: Ishita Khambete  I looked in the mirror, staring at myself. I spit out my gum, letting it sit in the grass. The sunlight reflected off of the mirror, but it wasn’t warm, it felt cold, distant. My friend showed up and sat in front of me, her jean jacket looking good on her. I knew how much I needed her, needed her comfort, her energy, and her entirety. After all, she’s my friend, and who doesn’t love their friend? The sun was almost halfway up in the sky, and the cool breeze sent shivers down my spine. My friend and I sat in silence, letting the pale sunlight overtake us, and knowing that there isn’t much to say, and that silence can be comfort. As we sat there, I looked back at the mirror, and was reminded of the times I felt lost, hopeless, misunderstood. Things have changed since then, and now I know, that when I look in the mirror, all I’m looking at is myself. After all, I have a beautiful friend, the rising sun with its pale rays, and myself. And at the end of the day, when I look in the mirror, all I’m looking is at is my reflection. By: Ananya Garg  They say your eyes are the windows to your soul So I looked I searched and I knew You were an amorist in a world of fools You knew the intricacies Thy delicate art Thy wondrous soul So as I sat in the waiting room Reciting poetry to you There were 7 minutes of unnecessary panic Unnecessary. You opened your eyes. You were alive The car accident wasn’t enough to destroy our lives. Your heart was a window now. I could see. Your soul was all shivers now. And I could read. I was the warmth you need 7 minutes of unnecessary panic. It took me back to 7th grade 7 minutes in heaven. Anything to get those 7 minutes back. I’ll even trade my healthy snacks. They say your eyes are windows to your soul. What if your eyes are just the doors You can enter and peak. And not sneak. You are not a thief Your eyes are just windows Or doors. The sad truth is one would never know. |
Photo from S@ndrine Néel
