take a step back by isha agrawal

9/01/24

there are some things that you can only feel and experience for yourself

these are the things words fail to capture 

now the world is silent and it reminds me of a feeling I haven’t felt in a while

it reminds me of being alive 

of being in love with life and it’s little things

like the way your fingers feel on my skin

the way that bite of jaggery melts in your mouth on a cold winter morning

the first bite of your favorite dessert after you’ve achieved your goal

or just because

it’s the way your tongue and mine are the same 

but my name tastes sweeter coming from you

or maybe the way your hands and mine are the same but 

it feels like coming home after a tired day when you 

cup my face and 

wrap me in your arms 

and hide me from the world for a moment

the way that feeling of free falling feels when you realize you’re in love

and the way that stranger smiles when you’re kind to them

or the warm feeling in your chest when someone compliments you on a bad day

it’s the little things that go unnoticed

and I didn’t know how much of these moments made me

until I sat down in the quietness

hoping to put them into words while the world slept

I wish I were a scientist or someone great

who could build something that ensured 

that, that smile never slipped off your face

that those soft brown eyes of yours never learn

what it means to cry until there was nothing left to cry for

that you didn’t go to bed wondering if you were loved 

or if you were enough

we are all humans and we’ve had enough

and though nobody said this to you, 

I hope you know you’re loved,

and if you don’t feel like you’re loved enough,

look around and see these little things,

see the sun shining for you,

see the moon looking out for you when it’s dark and

you feel alone,

see the birds and plants doing their thing to make sure you’re fed and exist, 

if you don’t feel alive,

stop, take a minute, and look around,

look around and take it in,

the world hasn’t ended yet. 

[this is the first time i wrote something positive, that’s about falling in love and i’m quite proud of this if i’m being honest]