POEM: GROWING UP WRITTEN ON 5TH DECEMBER 2024

 Growing up

Growing up is one of the most bitter realities of life.

You just realise you’ve grown up one day.

I didn’t realise how much time had passed,

While I was busy scouring the broken pieces of my heart.

I was wounded, so I bled.

I kept on bleeding until I noticed.

I fought my battles so hard and focussed,

That I forgot that people get injured while fighting wars.

Strangely enough, my wars were with myself, versions of me, my demons.

As is the case for the millions on this strange yet pretty planet.

I noticed the blood, my blood.

And I took a step back, to tend to my injuries,

To stop the bleeding.

While tending to my injuries, I finally recognised the weight of my injuries,

How it crept in my life when I was unaware of its existence,

How my blood seeped through and left stains.

I know now.

It was painful to know the truth, but it was important to know.

It is astounding how eloquently one can describe bloodstains,

Blissfully ignorant that they’re still there.

I was like that too.

Perhaps, I still am.

Looking back, I asked a lot of questions.

And I fought the countless wars for answers to those questions.

While healing my wounds, I came across those questions again.

I finally had the answers.

All these years, I was at war.

I was at a war I didn’t know would end or not.

Guess what, I still don’t.

I will probably have to go again, in search of answers to different questions,

Maybe, I am there already, again blissfully unaware.

But I finally acknowledge my bravery and courage,

For being ready to fight, fighting all the way and willing to do that again and again.

I realised, I’d grown up too.

I’d grown up in a war.

~Ashmita Acharyya