I left home
Aged 10
Put on a bus and away I went
Gone to oblivion
Into the void
Mum standing on the platform
Growing smaller as the bus drove away
Already gone.
Now a man, I return to that bus
Where that boy should have never been.
I take him in my arms
And hold him,
I will not let him go!
He can come home to me,
Stay with me in my home-heart.
We can be together, friends, brothers, partners, companions at arms.
You are safe now with me my boy!
I will not let you go.

a house is not a home
my home is with those who love me,
and you clearly don't
i am leaving;
i will miss you,
but not enough to come back.
you are nothing to me anymore,
as i am done with your lies

I am treading water between the islands
She is locked in her private paradise
While a swim against the current
Words ripple to her shore
But she blows against the tide
Fighting an internal changing tempest

She used to swim with me in harmony
Synchronist in stroke
But she says I am making waves
Blocking her leap into the fresh air
She can’t see that she is like me
Who also wants to feel the open water

I know the struggle she is fighting
The urge to fly and the pull to stay
I have travelled the route she is going
And I want to guide her on her way
But she thinks I am making waves
Blocking her leap into fresh air

I watch from the shallows
As she heads into the deep blue
She strikes out strong and true, then turns
I know she feels the pull
And I smile as only a mother can do
Watching as she takes her first leap

Amongst alien places and alien faces,
Where familiarity had no traces,
In the scorching sun, still feeling cold,
Falling down and having nobody to hold,
My fears untold ,I had a fake smile,
I secretly shed a tear , every once in a while,
I longed to be independent of those chains of misery,
Little did I know , that was my key to be free,
My key to step out of my cocoon,
My chance to touch the stars and the moon,
My chance to start a brand new tale,
I had no one to judge me even when I fail,
I failed and I failed but I knew I would sail,
You won't feel pleasure if you haven't seen pain,
Trust me , the struggle never goes in vain,
I met the kind of people, I didn't even know exist,
I felt good about the opportunities I hadn't missed,
I thought I had a terrible life , but I was wrong,
The struggle stays for a bit , but the pleasure period is long,
I looked back , from where I started,
From where me and my comfort parted,
And the transformation in me brought tears in my eyes,
I had finally achieved victory, the new me, was my prize ,
It was the best feeling I had ever felt ,
I went to my Mom and down I knelt,
I thanked her for sending me away,
And I thanked her again, everyday.
-Aastha Arora

You can't go back to the beginning
You can't start from the end
At no point are you the same person
You can't go home again

In every heart there's an aching
A desire to remain
But with every moment there's a changing
It will never be the same

When you leave, memories go with you
But your love may stay with them
Like a phoenix, rise from the ashes
Take flight and build again

Once mighty green leaves,
Now swaying here and there
They are changing colours
From green –
To red to indigo,
And then to yellow, finally.
Ready to fall down,
To float away freely,
Over the blue sky
Far far away
From the tree

I used to be
Bright and breezy-
Like a green leaf,
Always sticking to the tree.
Now I feel-
That I am ;
Changing too
Ready to fall,
Breaking free
To float freely
…. Away from the tree..