So Breathe A Little

By Sonal Taparia

So much pressure,

So much thunder,

So many blunders,

And i still wonder.

I wonder what would have happened?

If i could have landed that dream job,

That Top b-school,

A grand house with a high pool.

I still wonder what would have happened?

If my SAT score was more than average,

If competition in this world was not so savage.

If I could've made the cut,

If for once, I was courageous enough to take on the failure and its depressing brunt.

But the truth is I never landed my dream job,

I never got to make the decisions everybody talks about.

I never got to plan my life like every kinded spirit is Supposed to,

I lived my whole life without any fucking clue.

The plan was so simple when i was thirteen,

My frame was small and body structure lean.

Then came the sweet sixteen.

Body shape was a problem,

Jumping off the terrace felt doable.

But then somebody told me to shift focus

Dream big,

And all this body shaming stuff seemed hocus pocus.

I was happy for a while,

Happy and drunk, But never fragile.

I was so sure i had it in myself,

To be the next entrepreneur,

Now there were million possibilities behind hundred doors.

But age was also a factor,

Please remember, I was a girl with no permanent benefactor.

So, I let my dreams take a dive,

And not so happily accepted a 9-5.

Side hustle was the goal,

Even managed that for a while,

Cut the sleep short, Tried to run my life at 100 seconds a mile.

But all of us know, this wouldn't have worked in the long run,

And the ability to dream was almost dusted and done.

Guess what, I never quit my job,

Had to get married,

Between two families, I was deeply buried.

You all must be thinking i gave up,

I was about to,

Then my daughter was born,

I didn't want my daughter to see her mom forlorn,

So, I took a turn.

The bumps were even higher,

But this time I was better prepared.

So breathe a little,

Your courage is not brittle.

If I can do, So can you,

just get past the haze and blue.

The shackles will always be tight,

Just give your dreams a well deserved fight.

Hit hard with all your might.

I'll take leave now,

Listen up,

Against Life, Don't you dare Bow.

By Sonal Taparia