I Just Wanna Be A Girl!

Her eyes can make the boldest man bow Her voice echoes around the world She takes on many roles A daughter, sister, lover, friend A deadly foe She wears short skirts or Tshirts Strutting around in high heels or sneakers Her laughter, fierce and free Inspires others and paves the way She rules through love  The world is hers  Her path is hers, bold and true She stands her ground, tall and firm She carries her throne  She seizes the crown  There's courage on the shoulder  Where obedience used to be  And it's calling her the queen  Her nerve is her weapon  And she IS the Queen  (In class this morning, we were asked to write a poem about the modern woman. This is what I ended up with. Am I becoming a poet???)

So, I googled myself today. I didn't have a specific reason to do so. I was just curious. When I hit the search bar, my published books came up. So did my LinkedIn profile.  The most surprising thing I saw was that my books were listed on the Barnes and Noble page! So, Barnes and Noble is a bookstore in the United States. They have retail outlets all over the country. I pretty much grew up in there. I loved visiting. My little sister had regular storytime sessions there. When she was occupied by the instructor, I would browse the shelves. I would take books off the shelves and find a cozy corner to curl up and read in. There was nothing weird about that. No one would look at me funny. I always loved reading. Bookstores and libraries were heaven to me.  Now, this might seem like something pretty trivial. But, this was somewhere I grew up. And to see my work displayed there. It makes me want to go back to visit, just to see my book in one of the places I loved. It makes me feel like

  Flashback when you met me Your buzzcut and my hair bleached Even in my worst times You could see the best of me Flashback to my mistakes My rebounds, my earthquakes Even in my worst lies You saw the truth in me And I woke up just in time When I hear these lyrics, I feel like... there's someone out there who really understands me. The way the singer says this with such certainty makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's someone who can see past the drama I cause and my meltdowns. It's someone who can weather my storms with me. The singer talks about how this person could always look beyond things in her past and see her. They saw the true her. They loved her for being herself.  This is a dream of mine. To have someone like this. Someone who knows I have off days and is willing to bear with them. Someone who just wants me to be with them. Just my presence. Someone who cares about what I have to say and wants to listen to the trivial things I want to talk about. Someone who

I was asked to write a poem on the depth of gratitude in my exam this morning. Here's what I ended up with.  Note: It was written when I was on the clock. I wrote this out in ten minutes. I tried to make it kinda visually appealing as well.  Here it is.  Thank you for showing me the world,                       for teaching me to fly,              and for letting me learn. Thank you for your patience,                       for your attention,               and for your affection. Thank you for showing me what love is,                      for letting me know I'm worth loving,              and for teaching me to love myself. Thank you for your trust in me,                       for giving me your heart and soul,              and for being my prized possession.    Thank you for loving me for me...

So, my professor was teaching us the poem 'How Do I Love Thee,' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (sonnet 43) in class. It was just so magnificent that I was inspired to write my own poem. I'm not really a poet, I'm more of a prose writer, but this poem inspired me. I sat down 2 hours later and tried to write. This is what I ended up with. (I'm sure there are some lines that are similar to the original piece. It's my first work of poetry, bear with me.) It's called "How Much Do I Love Thee?" How much do I love thee? I love thee in silence and peace. I love thee through chaos and violence.  I love thee with the intensity of my grief. I love thee with purity.  In thy eyes I find peace,  In thy arms, lies my home.  To the ends of the earth and beyond. With everything I have and will have.  I love thee when you are out of sight and in my arms.  I love thee with my heart and soul, I am thine.  Now and forever more.

"I am Nyx, the queen of night herself, the primordial force from which all darkness flows. Before the dawn, before the stars, I was. From the abyss I rise, my shadows veiling the world in silence and fear... When all light fades, all must return to me."  So, I'm sure you are confused by now. I went to a cosplay event at Ethiraj college where I played Nyx. My teammates were all dressed as Greek Gods. The work we had chosen to portray was Theogony by Hesiod.  For the past few weeks, I had put all my energy and effort into this event. I worked on the music, the formations, the dialogues, costumes, and everything in between. Finally, it was time to get on stage. I had spent all morning getting ready. When they called for my team, there was no time to be nervous. We got on stage and I checked out the stage dimensions. I instructed my teammates where they should stand and I signalled for the music to start.  That was it. The gods descended from Olympus. Zeus and Poseidon entere