Before you become flowers | R.S.Chaithanya Raghavan

THE FOLLOWING POEM WAS SELECTED IN WINGWORD POETRY PRIZE 2023 LONGLIST.

Before you become flowers , you were a

rough storm, a dark night, a lonely shell.

You were a book with no end.

You were an ocean that never peace , tide

never fell, waves never slowed.

You were a boomerang that swung lonely.

Your heart shone bright, a midnight moon.

And when you were grassfield , you let everyone play around on you.

You were a scary fall, but a not so horror landing.

You were a neon sign someone

was looking for.

A reminder that you are more than what society portrays you as.

A smile across someone's face.

A glass of thick honey, cosy and sweet.

A shot of Rum & Whiskey, burning going down.

After the rain stops pounding down,

like heavy punches from above, you grew, big and beautiful, like a new life, a beautiful flower.