Wish Teenage had a Better Face

- Sreemoyee Chanda

 

Shin-chan, Oggy, Doraemon -

Cartoon laughs now long gone.

Wouldn't it be fun to turn thirteen?

Back then, the world felt like a dream.

But birthdays passed,

And suddenly we were cast

Into a world laced with silent screams,

Where truths wear masks, and nothing redeems.

In this game of chasing fame,

Our flaws are cast to blame.

No one is born stone-hearted —

It's life that carves them that way.

They want us to shine, to rise,

Yet beneath the smiles, the nightmare lies.

Some souls suffer out of sight,

Battling shadows, craving light.

The faster time flies,

The smaller the skies.

Our soul is a perfect graveyard —

Of all buried hopes.

Faking cries to faking smiles,

Killing a heart without making it bleed.

We all wanted to grow up —

Till we actually did.

Bullying. Comparing.

Depression, now just trending.

Heartbreaks we hide,

And sacrifices — never ending.

Secret poems in hidden drawers

Whisper tales of wilted flowers.

A dove trapped behind a cage —

A story paused, stuck on a page.

Falling in love? Not the worst thing,

If we remember we're all just human beings.

Screaming, breaking, barely afloat —

And still pretending we wrote that note.

When families fall apart,

Careers become worries. 

Hoping to find a way out,

To relive the lost memories.

"The world will move on", 

 they say -

"It's all just part of the race."

But with the dreams all out of place,

Just wish teenage had a better face.

- Anandamayee