I forgot..

Somewhere between the incessant forwards
And the friendships in the backyards
Somewhere between complaining about bf/gf and crushes.
Somewhere between the late night phone calls to friends
And the “I love you s “and “I miss you s “
And what are we doing tonight’s?
Somewhere between all of the changing and growing
Amidst the classes and theirs skipping
And those late night studying
And studies for tests kind of pretending
And the downright not studying,
I forgot…
I forgot what school was all about.
Somewhere between our canteens and the roadside samosas
Somewhere between paying bills and then begging on others,
And Making plans, and breaking plans
Appearing and Disappearing, then reappearing
I forgot…
I forgot what it was like to cry.
I forgot that pretending to be happy
Doesn’t really make you happy
And that pretending to be smart
Doesn’t make you smart.
I forgot…
That you can’t just forget the past
…so fast…
Into the fear of the near future.
I forgot…
That you can’t control falling in love
And that you can’t force yourself into its dove.
I learned that I can love.
I learned that it’s okay to mess up and rove.
And it’s okay to ask for help.
And it’s okay to feel like crap.
I learned that it’s okay to complain
And whine to all your friends for a whole day to explain.
I learned that sometimes the things you want most
You just can’t have.
And the things that you don’t look for
Are right in front of you.
I learned that the greatest thing about school,
Isn’t about the birthdays or cold drinks or the hookups,
It’s the friendships, which meant taking chances
I learned that sometimes the things we want to forget
Are the things we need to talk about most .
I learned that time and love can heal all things.
I learned that just when you think
It can’t get worse…It really does,
But with the love and support of your friends_you survive,
I learned that when you start feeling bad about losing touch
And about those you’ve lost,
They too are feeling the same way.
I learned that texts from friends are the most important things
And that sending cards to them brings a perpetual delight.
Eventually I just learned after all those plights
You can’t keep them all nor can you respite.

And above all the lessons I learned
Friendship was the best I earned.
-Vaibhav Nagesh