10th Grade

By Aaradhya Sinha

Subjects pile up, pressure mounts.

Many will say, Don’t waste time on poems that don’t count.

A diadem if I do well, a fool if I fail,

Yet my inbox floods with names I barely hail.

I’ve yet to begin, yet expectations weigh,

From people I met once, now hoping I slay.

It’s just an exam, so what’s the rush?

Guess I’ll never know, never felt the hush.

And yet, in this chaos, a pang takes hold,

Bittersweet, heavy, quiet yet bold.

For this is the end, my final year,

The last goodbye growing near.

A random afternoon, just any day,

Yet one where everything slips away.

It could’ve been chaotic, filled with delight,

Snacks from the canteen, bunking in sight.

Those broken benches we used to despise,

Now feel like thrones in longing eyes.

The teachers I loathed, the classmates too loud,

The uniform stiff, the assemblies too proud.

The gates I cursed each dawn,

The campus I roamed from dusk till morn.

The classroom I hated, the halls I knew,

The memories I swore I’d outgrow, too.

But not all bonds are tied by blood,

Some are woven through years of mud.

And so, with laughter and tears in view,

On a random afternoon, I bid adieu.

By Aaradhya Sinha