Wish I Were Born

 Sometimes I wish I were born a bird instead

I could spread my wings and fly

Without worrying about people

Saying I don’t have what it takes to fly high

I could soar as high as the sky

Without looking back, looking down

On what is expected of me

Sure I won’t fly too close to the Sun

I know better than Icarus that

Over-ambitions can burn

 

Sometimes I wish I was born an ant instead

I could eat as much sugary treats as I wanted

Hoard them even, for all I care!

The quite hard-work, pain and toil I put

Would reap me more benefits as an ant

Than as a human

Being a female would only bear privilege

In the ant’s world

Far be it to get the same respect as a woman

In the human’s man’s world

 

But I was born a human

Much to my dismay

Feeling all these emotions

My heart wishes to play

That an ant or a bird would never have

To fathom or display

The constant pain in my chest

The constant utterances in my head-

‘You are not good enough’

‘You didn’t work hard enough’

‘You should have known better’

‘You should have dreamt lesser’

‘Dreams can kill; you don’t wanna be Icarus’

‘Feelings will burn: don’t you dare be frivolous’

 

A bird is admired for its feathers

The agility of its flight

An ant for its hard-work

The pace at which it climbs that height

A human is judged instead

For not being good enough, pretty enough, smart enough

 

Wish I ever born an ant or a bird instead

Then I would not have to prove my worth

Every wakeful second, In every single breath