Written by Nandini Sethi
I flip through an old photo album,
One that doesn’t exist,
To ponder over what could have been,
Now that I know this side of the ‘what if’.
In this photo album
There are some treasure chests filled with memories,
Moments I will remember as vividly as my passwords;
Those exact ones never happened.
I see me, smiling at you,
Then laughing at a joke you didn’t crack;
I see you, the glint of happiness in your eyes,
As you animatedly retell a story, one I wish was real.
Dear best friends,
I wish I got the chance to do the things that were snatched from us,
The anxiety in making a new friend,
The emotion in bidding them goodbye.
To sit and indulge in undercooked canteen food,
And complain about the all-nighter we just pulled;
To imitate professors when they weren’t looking,
And collectively wish for a miracle in the upcoming exam.
This photo album is overflowing with pictures of all kinds,
Happy and sad, like the times we shared together.
There is one in particular that catches my eye,
And brings forth a stray, unwitting tear.
It is the one in our black gowns and oversized graduation caps,
As we fling them into the air, creating a new horizon, defining our own limit;
I close my eyes and trace the outline of our happy figures,
And wish for an experience like this someday.
