Six Or Twenty Six

By Ankit Gautam

I am six again and things are pretty simple now,

One could even say “wow” looking at the chill

I have got here.

Here and there a bit of fear

Sweats the things out of me,

But that‘s okay because it‘s occasional.

Things are a lot lighter now-

No pros and cons,

No apprehensions and moralities

Attached to anything,

Though everyone is beginning to inject me

With minute quantities

Of all those toxicities.

All I am worried about now is

Which candy do I get to choose.

To be honest, I don‘t want to choose,

I want them all, In spite of all.

With this “everything should be in my pocket” attitude,

A bit of rivalry arises if there is a sibling at home

Or a friend at school,

For he also might want everything of everything.

Thenhyou’d have to punch in his face

Or get punched in yours

To gain or lose your place.

Even with these outer bruises,

I am happy-

I am rather happy fighting over candies

Than fighting over girls

Where other than the wishes of the adversaries,

The wish of the one claimed also muddles.

I Don‘t have to worry about choosing clothes though,

Whatever mamma picks up is the final throw,

I don‘t even bother to look in the mirror once,

Type of haircut,

Face cut, shortness,

Tallness

To swell me up or put me off is nowhere in the row.

No words are cuss words for me so far,

Only frowns or intonations

Of the abuser or the abused

Or the red cheeks or the wet eyes of the victim,

Conveys to me

The gravity of the dictum.

People, passively, are beginning to teach me

What they, actively, restrict me from learning,

The only bliss is I don‘t yet understand this paradox.

If I did, I would set this all burning.

I sleep and I sleep easy after a day‘s play.

Things fleetingly try to torment me,

Just before it is time to get ready for school,

For keeping maths and other homework at bay.

“How just before the class I would copy it,

Or ask Neha to comlete it,

Bit by bit,

Not succeeding, what escape would I go for?”

Are some thoughts making things ballistic.

Sunday evening is heavy as a rock on the chest,

It prepares me for Monday morning,

Which no wonder most most adults get heart attacks on,

They don‘t realize but I,also, try to avoid it my best.

The best part of school is sports class

Where we try our hand at everything available

From gymnastics to football to carrom to table tennis.

The bell ending the sports class

Sounds like a hammer shattering a glass!

It is cruel to make us sit and focus on the lessons

After a full fledged sports stride in the sun,

I find it a task Spartan to keep my eyes open.

I doze off a dozen time during those forty minutes

And then the teacher takes at me a pun.

So do I want to turn twenty six again?

Well yes! Very much yes!

It is much better to be able to make your choices

If you can make them wisely.

You are young,

You are strong,

You are energetic, knowledgeable,

Capable of turning the tide of time.

Rest everything is manageable.

By Ankit Gautam