A Flurry of Questions

By Divya Naik

Ma,
I have so many questions for you.
How does it matter if I am a boy or a girl?
Is it not enough that I am just me?
How does it matter, how I unfurl?

Can I make the world go topsy turvy?
And jump around without a care?
Why does it matter if I get hurt?
Or lie down on the grass, just bare?

Ma,
Why are mistakes so egregious?
Why is it wrong to make them so?
If I fall, I know I can stand again,
If I run away, I won’t just go.

Ma,
Why am I supposed to keep quiet if told?
Why can’t I scream or laugh out loud?
Why can’t I speak out of turn?
Why is it bad if I stand out in the crowd?

Ma,
Why are others better than me always?
Why am I never just enough?
What can I do to make you smile again?
Why is everyone always so rough?

Ma,
Will you dream with me again?
Can we see eye to eye?
Don’t look at me like that now -
What I’m saying is not always a lie.


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