I replay memories out of habit,
The way one would a mixtape, back in the day,
A song from my childhood begins, and in my head, a montage begins to play–
There are memories, good and bad,
And there are times when I wish I could go back
To that old schoolyard where three young girls sang
As the last bells of our childhood rang.
It plays in my head, as clear as the day it happened–
‘Stereo Hearts’, and a couple of other songs,
Unbridled, giddy with freedom, singing at the top of our lungs,
Just the three of us, like we were one.
All these years later, I still recall
The same three girls, now separated and miles away,
But for those three and a half minutes, it’s like I’ve travelled back to that day,
When we were eager to leave our childhoods behind; what a mistake!
For three and a half minutes, I’m young and free,
Without the weight of the world and its expectations of me–
Life has picked up – well, that’s debatable,
But when the song plays once more, the nostalgia in surround sound envelopes me.
And on some days,
That’s all we really need.
~© Shubhangi Srinivasan.
Today’s prompt via napowrimo.net challenges us to write a poem comparing the significance a song holds in our lives at different points. For me, that song will always be ‘Stereo Hearts’ by Gym Class Heroes. It’s surprising, considering most songs that have inspired my poems this season have been Taylor Swift’s, but this song reminds me of the time when my friends and I ran around the schoolyard, holding hands, singing the song at the top of our lungs because we were so happy that our schooldays were finally over. Boy, were we in for a rude awakening!
The three of us are in three very different places in life, and we don’t get to talk to each other too much. But we just know that on certain days, listening to this song inevitably leads us to reaching out to one another. It’s a beautiful thing because it has been 12 years since we left school. But that day was what one might call a core memory. If you haven’t heard the song, here it is:
Now, coming back to the fact that this is the last day of NaPoWriMo this year. I’m burnt out from work and I can’t really find the words to write, but I have so much to say. For today, I’ll just leave it at the fact that it has been such a pleasure to write about the things I love, like art, music, and friendship. It has been such a relief knowing that I’m capable of writing more than just sappy, romantic poetry. It has truly been a year of learning and evolving as a poet and as a writer. And it has reignited my love for writing.
So I guess you’ll see a lot more of my blog posts, even if it takes me a while to get back to being regular! But wait, it’s not yet over. I’ll be back tomorrow to do a roundup of my favourite poems from the season, what it has taught me, and then some.
See you tomorrow for something that’s not poetry?
Yours truly,
The Shubhster.
If you like my poem, please do leave a comment or follow my blog! I write a lot of random but interesting stuff, and I try to keep it real. I’d love it if you went ahead and checked out more of my work, while you’re still here. If you think someone you know would appreciate the things I write, feel free to share my page with them! You can also reach out to me on my Twitter or Instagram handles. I always appreciate seeing new people come up to me and tell me they like what I write! It doesn’t happen as often as I would like for it to, but let’s change that, maybe?
This has been day 29 of 30!
See you tomorrow?
Cheerio! Xx
~Featured Image by Michael Förtsch on Unsplash
The Shubhster Diaries 
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