In times gone by

In times gone by,

We would be surrounded by freedom,

Engulfed by endless possibilities,

But were oblivious,

Oblivious to the horrors,

To the pain,

To a the lifeless earth,

To the lifeless us.

In times gone by,

A odd situation emerged.

We were at significant crossroads,

Stay in or stay ill?

Give up or just give?

Agony and uncertainty

Showed us the wrong way,

Follow them,

Or follow you?

Be the one you are,

Or the one you want to be?

In times gone by,

A rhythm began,

An endless cycle of the same old things.

Our education became different,

You were at a desk

In your desolate room,

The window was there,

But it didn’t suffice.

A longing started burning within.

“Go outside”,

It whispered,

“Be free,”

It sighed.

You ignored it still,

But to your own demise.

In times gone by,

Hope showed its glory,

Hope showed its pride,

Hope told us it was going to be all right.

Our eyes widened,

We believed her still.

After much time of yearning,

We finally stepped outside.

We mounted our bikes,

And peddled hard,

To an endless chain of glee.

In times gone by,

We had set ourselves up too high,

For a crippling disappointment was in to shock.

A year has passed now,

And we are back inside

Inside our own vessels,

So secluded from society.

But this was everyone’s case,

We were all inside.

So why not help,

Why not interact,

Why not be a free heart,

A free spirit,

And who cares if our bodies are stuck inside?

We’ll just have to bring outside inside.

In time now here,

We have appeared to be done.

A long lasting fight has appeared to be done.

A few battles were lost,

But we won the war.

I salute everyone who perished to this frightful enemy,

I salute all who worked in these treacherous times.

I salute all who cared for the sick and wounded.

And I salute you,

For caring and withstanding this,

For choosing to continue the fight,

For being strong in the face of adversity.

In times to come,

The definition of normal will change.

Rudimentary things will come to a halt,

Dine in and cinemas might just perish,

To delivery and streaming services.

We will learn and grow from this.

We will not yearn and groan again.

For we have learnt to be grateful for the little things again.

-Siya Nagar