This poem might not be relatable to people who did not attend school in India and were not in schools that gave loads of holidays homework which did not leave anytime to enjoy the summer break. However this was my experience, especially in the summers of secondary school. I remember taking my holiday homework with me even when I was going on a vacation with my family. I still have some of those unfinished art projects that were started but then abandoned because writing a hundred pages of daily news took precedence. This year I am finally embracing that inner child which always wanted to experience the long days of summer in a very different way. What’s one thing that you wish you got to do as a child during summer?
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Why my inner child comes out in the summers of adulthood
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Is it because I always strapped it in the massive school bag with the assignments and holidays homework
And now that the size of the bag has reduced,
It can no longer contain the child that always wanted to recite poems
Under the warm summer moonlight and
Read Austen in the park with the butterflies,
Instead of figuring out the use of the project report on wind turbines
That everyone copied from the website
Because no one had the time or desire to teach them otherwise.
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Is it because the inner child can finally take charge of the hands
That always wanted to create gigantic paintings of mountains, skies and seas
And fill the notebooks with the story of the girl grappling with her cultural identity,
And instead had to mindlessly fill a notebook with one hundred pages of text copied from the NCERT
Because the English teacher thought that was the best homework to help them prepare for the boards that were going to determine their destiny.
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Now my inner child can breathe in the scent of the summer,
Instead of textbooks and paper.
She can go on long sweaty walks through the chirping woods
And stay in that cabin where she always dreamt of setting her first novel.
She can sit with her typewriter until her hands dry up for the day
And then go to the maidan to give her brain a break.
She can stain her clothes with paints
And doesn’t need to explain why she snuck into the art class during the afternoon break.
She can fly with the butterflies and float with the fish.
She can gaze at the night sky and howl with the wind.
She can picnic by the pond and read till it rains.
And then she can get drenched in the summer showers
Until she is satisfied that she has experienced the summer that should not have been limited to her childhood dreams.
-Armaan
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#poetry #poetsandwriters #nature #poems #summerquotes #creativelife #embracingmyinnerchild #summerpoems #poetlife #holidayhomework[Summer, poetry, summer poems, poetry blog, quotes, childhood, school life]
About the poet: Armaan Rai is a poet who writes about nature, moments and memories, and nostalgia. She uses simple words and phrases to capture the beauty and complexity of the world around her. She believes that poetry is a powerful tool for expressing emotions and connecting with others. She started this blog, Oregano Oranges, as a way of connecting with other poets and readers. She wanted to create a space where she could share her work, learn from others, and get an opportunity to touch someone’s heart.