All These Make Up a Life – Writers House Review

Navneet Kaur

Everything is about loss.

It is the hunter holding his wounded dog.

The mother who weeps at her feathered young

fallen out of the nest when it only ever wanted to fly.

The birch tree steadily burned by humans.

A fallen branch buried in the snow like a soft death.

After a while, I noticed that everything eventually disappears.

Decomposes back into the soil where it came from.

Fades and withers, no matter how much we try to grasp

in our melting hands.

But at least our skeletons hold flowers at the end.

What we desire never lasts.

My mother sobbed once, in the dimly lit kitchen, her shoulders

shaking violently.

I wanted to pull her closer, but she only pushed me away.

I remember the subtle crack in my dad’s voice when he said,

“We won’t meet them again.”

All I wanted to do was rip those people from the very ground,

their burned bones resting, and bring them back to life just for him.

My brother barged into my room and asked

if I wanted to see my birthday present early.

He said it was something he knew I would like.

I laid my head on someone’s shoulder on the ride back home

and I finally felt like I was able to breathe.

I sat in the crisp sunshine, my sun-kissed skin glowed like honey.

I confessed to someone in the music room over a grand piano

when I met his soft gaze and remembered I was 21.

I was 11 when I realized the moon also went through phases,

so we should give the people we love some grace.

I take candid photos so people can’t change.

I still love my childhood best friend, but I don’t know who she is.

I still miss you even though I saw you yesterday.

The food tastes better when we eat together.

I sing with a stranger to one of my favorite songs and the other

members of the choir dance with each other.

Once, a whole line of strangers opened up a path for me at a concert

so I could make my why to the restroom and not lose my spot.

A good friend searched my eyes endlessly when he noticed

I was upset. Hoping to find the source of my pain.

I know my friends pretend to be whole, but at the same time,

try to fill my cracks with gold.

I’m so glad my cousin called again.

I thought she lost herself and wouldn’t make her way back to me.

I hated college, but in the end, I will look back at the times when I danced

around in a circle with people I barely knew

and remember how much

I laughed every Monday night.

My parents do not have much life left in them,

but I want to give them

days worth living. I wish we had more time to spend with each other

even though we’re not even in our 30s.

I didn’t ask my grandmother to crochet me a sweater

with her calloused hands

before she went upstairs forever.

Navneet Kaur majored in communications and minored in human resources, graduating in 2024. She currently lives in Carteret, New Jersey, with her parents and her older brother. She wants to become an event planner or musician in the entertainment industry where she can take her creative skills to the next level. In her free time, she loves to draw, paint, write poetry, and play videogames.