Growing Up

Every step that I take,

Leaves its mark on the sand;

So when I turn to look back,

I know where I stand.

The journey seems ordinary,

Nothing different from the mundane;

It is only when I pause to zoom out,

I see it from end to end.

From hatred for curries -

To eating all that I could find;

To hating a few again,

I have left a lot behind.

But weight must be shed,

In order to move ahead -

To the vibrance that the world has to offer,

To all that breathes but isn't dead!

These moments of gradual calm,

Spruced with spikes of erratic temperaments;

Are to be honoured just as much,

Even if they fill you with fear and laments.

And so I understand that life happens to us,

When we voyage out in its search;

And everything that we ought to find,

Has always been inside us.

It is like a reckless horse,

Designed to dash straight,

And you must put all effort to nudge it -

At times before its too late.

How gradual are changes that impact us:

We don't realise their power, their thrust;

But soon enough time has passed -

To make realise the scale,

Of oceans that we crossed!

And to me all that matters is this run.

Fly, gallop, crawl, never to stop!

To feel joy and pain in every blunt,

As I grow, and as I am growing up.