Lifetime - by Dhruvica Bhatia

I can’t tell who I was

In a previous lifetime, 

A princess, a Lord’s mistress,

Or a prisoner who lost his mind

I can’t tell who I am,

In this lifetime either

A poet, a psychologist

Or a hopeless lover

But on the inside,

I’m just a broken shell of a woman

Who is mean, wretched,

And one misfortune away from joining a witch coven

I’m someone who is scared

Of bugs, commitment,

and the journal I wrote in when I was 12

I have it in me

To give my heart to someone who doesn’t deserve it

But not to those who look at my imperfections and love it

I don’t have much to offer

As compared to the women my age

Just my self-depricative jokes,

And the poetry I write on these pages

Whenever I’m craving love,

I just get on my knees and beg,

And hope for the best,

When I don’t receive it,

I cry all the way home,

Write another depressing poem,

And read it to my sister and friends

I think there’s something wrong with me,

And I think my parents know it well,

Because they have themselves to blame,

They know I get my faults from them

But in the end, I am a simple girl

Who gets excited over small things,

But is depressive enough to silently wait for the arrival of an apocalypse

But even when it arrives,

All I want to do

Is to go on the roof with a loved one

And enjoy the final view

And when it’s just about to hit,

I want to hold their hand and close my eyes,

So that when I am reborn, 

I’ll be someone new in another lifetime

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About The Author

Dhruvica Bhatia is an 11th grade student from India. She is an avid reader who loves music, baking and writing poems. She aspires to be a psychologist but would love to be a published author and even open a small cafe with a library attached to it if money was not an issue.

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Cover art by Jiaying Chen