The Time That Remained - By Bheshika Taurah

Written By: Bheshika Taurah

Category: Existential lyrical prose (Close to poetry but not quite)

Competition: Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

We are honored to feature Bheshika Taurah's poignant work, "The Time That Remained," in the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Categorized as existential lyrical prose, this piece offers an introspective journey into the realms of time, love, and loss. Bheshika's exploration of these universal themes invites readers to reflect on moments that define and reshape our existence.

About the Work

"The Time That Remained" delves into the introspective experience of time standing still after a pivotal moment of personal loss. Bheshika Taurah crafts a narrative that is both haunting and beautiful, capturing the internal struggle between moving forward and remaining anchored in the past. The work is rich with imagery and emotion, offering insight into the complexities of love and the enduring impact of absence.

The time that remained

Original Submission by Bheshika Taurah

The time that remained

For me, time did not continue after that moment.

It is a strange thing to say, because everything continued. The clocks carried on with their small, obedient ticking. Morning came. People spoke, laughed, departed, returned. Seasons changed with an indifference that sometimes felt almost cruel. And I, too, moved among them as though nothing had happened.

I grew older.

I learned to smile at the appropriate moments. I learned to answer when spoken to, to make plans, to speak of tomorrow as though tomorrow belonged to me.

And yet, somewhere behind all this, time remained standing.

It remained there in that precise moment when someone I loved turned away and left.

Perhaps it was not time that stopped.

Perhaps it was I who stopped, and everything that came afterward was merely a long and elaborate punishment for having survived that moment.

I have often wondered what I am now.

Perhaps I am not a person in love at all. Perhaps I am merely what remains after love has departed a fragment of something that once believed itself whole. An absence that learned to walk, speak, work, laugh, and pretend that these things together constituted a life.

And if someone were to come to me now and say, “I love you,” what could I possibly give in return?

I could give my hands.

My days.

My loyalty.

Perhaps even the whole of my life.

But could I give the place within me where love is supposed to begin?

That place has been occupied for so long by an absence that I no longer know whether I am preserving a memory, or whether the memory is preserving me.

This is the most terrible part of it: the world has continued without asking whether I was ready to follow.

And I did follow.

But only outwardly.

Somewhere within me, I am still standing there, watching something disappear that I had once believed would remain.

So tell me could you love someone like that?

Someone who stands before you in the present, yet belongs, in some hidden and inexplicable way, to a moment that has already passed?

Someone who has survived the loss, but has never truly left it?

Someone whose heart is still living in a place from which the rest of the world has long since moved on?

Could you love someone whose greatest wound is not that something was lost but that some part of them went with it?

About the Competition

The Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar is a celebration of literary talent, bringing together voices from around the world. This esteemed competition provides a platform for writers to share their unique stories and perspectives, fostering a vibrant community of creativity and expression.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Bheshika Taurah for sharing "The Time That Remained" with us. Your contribution to the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 enriches our understanding of love and time. We look forward to seeing more of your profound insights and creative expressions in the future.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.