Four Seasons
Ishani Mhatre
Checked and double checked
Passports, documents, and plane tickets
Pajamas, winter jackets, and turtle-neck sweaters
Stuffed inside a sturdy, brown leather suitcase
Until its contents overflowed
I’ll probably never understand
Their fear of stepping into an unknown
They paced back and forth,
Waved goodbye to their parents, who peered from a doorway
Entered into the waiting car,
Watched their home get smaller and smaller
Sometimes when I flip through old family albums
I stop, think, wonder
What life would have been like
In a different country,
In a different neighborhood,
With different friends,
A different home
The four seasons nothing but a picture
On old, faded paper
I glance outside
And watch the the fall leaves
Sing in a brilliant melody of
Rosy reds, brilliant browns, and peaceful purples
Until fall lends itself to winter
And the barren branches still manage to
Sparkle with the light of a thousand snowflakes
And then the warm sun fosters tiny rose buds
Blossom into beautiful pink and white flowers
Which transform into the steady, dependable green
Of summer leaves and humidity
Until the crisp air paints the green, summer leaves with
Rosy reds, brilliant browns, and peaceful purples
The colors signaling the end and start of a cycle
The Four Seasons
And suddenly I am content exactly where I am
Constant evolution and change
Forged by ancestral roots across oceans
And shaped by the chaotic, loving nature of my home
My current life determined by my caregivers
My future determined by me
Ishani Mhatre is a third-year student at Rutgers (Class of 2025), studying computer science. Her hometown is in Edison, New Jersey. In her free time, she loves painting/drawing, reading, biking, and listening to music. She writes, “I loved tapping into my creativity in Professor November’s class! All the assignments we did were interesting and I enjoyed exploring different styles of writing. Intro to Creative Writing was a fun experience and it definitely helped me grow as a writer.”