‘Self-Portrait’: Poem by Ananya Sonal Arya and Syahrina Hanif, Apeejay School, Panchsheel Park 

Being different is a beauty

You are not deceiving anyone but yourself

When you consider yourself a beast, instead of a dark rose, that’s when the world ends

Only you can prevent your own personal apocalypse

That universe inside you desires to be loved, not mocked, demeaned or feared by you yourself

Your reflection can either be your worst enemy, or saviour

Bur art is subjective, and the critics’ choice is yours

Then, there makes its entry, the villain of the plot, ‘people, thoughts, my image, their perception‘

Go forth, for you are your own knight in shining armor

People might poke, as for a surprise, to them, you’re a ‘THREAT’, but they make it appear to you as the ‘unwanted’

It hurts, aches, pains, breaks your soul into the sand granules of the desert, but you’re to

know that, it’s the pearls and corals of the ocean!

Shout out loud,

‘THANK GOD I’M ME!’

Ananya Sonal Arya and Syahrina Hanif

Apeejay School, Panchsheel Park