Tell Me Something

Dear Praise

Close your eyes now
And relax.
Take a breath,
And remember.
Those days when you ran barefooted
Down the hill,
as fast as the wind could take you.
Those days when you were superior,
Your tiny fist judging the unworthy.
Those days when you played naughty games,
Remember those days when you wore blue and blue,
Dark and light with a red cravat.
Those halls, corridors and stairs,
Remember those stony steps,
And rough paths that tore your shoes,
Remember the place you ate and the halls in which you slept.
Remember the rooms where you sat and learnt,
The words, the rumors, the pain,
The things you saw, and things you hate,
Remember when you first fought your heart,
When you tried to understand love
Remember how you fought to stay sane.
Now remember those gates,
Those long and windy asphalt roads,
Remember the sea that stretched far from the lagoon,
The bridge that seemed too long and yet so near,
Remember those seats, the breeze that tickled the petals of small flowers,
Remember those stony and block buildings,
High and mighty as they towered over you,
Remember how that made you nervous and scared,
How stepping in made you conscious of your very being,
As you navigated the whirlwind of people - strangers you didn't know,
Remember those steps, tiring and plenty and how many times you ran them up and down, your anxious heart beating.
Remember those words you said to yourself, all alone?
Or did you forget?
Remember those classes, many and full of noise and preoccupations,
Remember how you half ran and half hesitated as you sped for a class you were late for,
Remember the prayers you chanted as your heart beat faster for late classes and tests,
All that pleas you offered,
Remember how tired you were after a long boring lecture,
And how upset you were when you found a long line at the eatery,
Remember how embarrassed you were when you didn't have enough money to buy food,
Remember the small warmth and joy you felt at having a friend to walk with you,
And how lonely it was when you walked by yourself.
Remember how it felt to win, to be the first,
And how it felt when you found out you weren't the best anymore,
Remember how miserable you were when you stepped into a different world with different rules that you had known.
Remember the flowers, roads, plants and streetlights at night that gave you Joy,
Remember your solitary friend, the earpiece, who was always stuck in your ears,
Remember how the night calmed you and how it terrified you,
Remember how angry and betrayed you felt when others left you, when they stopped coming.
Remember your dreams and the hopes you created,
Remember how you cried in your pillow at night when you heard a good song,
And how your face would shiver with electric shocks when you listened to a beautiful song or instrumental,
Remember how it all changed,
Remember the people you want to hold on to and those that you want to meet,
Remember how you got here,
Now that is living,
You lived all those years, as you do now,
I want you to remember how hard it was to live,
So that you will not think it is easier to die.
I want you to know the blood, sweat and tears that you have spent,
So that you will not think it was all in vain.
Dear Praise, those years were not for nothing.
The coming years will also not be for nothing.