What do Teens want?

One may wonder

What teens actually want…

is it the acrylic nail extension

or a few streaks of hair to be dyed blonde?

One may ponder

but can never really tell

What teens yearn…

it is a divine spell

not to be cast for a hundred calories to burn

but for the ‘root cause’ to discern.

Some teens in despair

just want a bare minimum affirmation

that their life will pan out marvelous-

a whole lot more real than a mere ostentation.

On a Saturday evening,

Teens might not pick getting sloshed,

if only you pit it against

visiting the school the parents went to,

the park they often bruised themselves in,

walking down their memory lane.

What teens want?

You may ask,

not a vacation too exotic,

just some place far from

the ever-monotonous, mundane regularities.

A road trip, maybe,

Towards the countryside,

a hundred and thirty kilometers away!

All open spaces,

yet no room for sorrow and grief,

but happy tears: welcomed with open arms

(sorry, closed eyes!)

No, teens do not want funny ear-piercings,

they indeed need a patient ear

from either their peers or siblings,

as a reply, they’d appreciate,

“You’re boulders stronger than this, my dear.”

“I’ve some figuring to do for myself.”

Teens may snap, all flustered

while they need you

not to spoon-feed

by making lavish arrangements

but to stand as a scaffold

so you can pick them when they stumble,

let them speak, even though you’re afraid

they might fumble.

Reiterate: “You’re lovable,

Relax, your acne won’t always remain unfixable.

You’re desirable,

despite your larynx trifling with you.

Bury your poor scores on class tests for a bit,

guilt-tripping for

not making it to the Toppers’ List, skip it!”

Remember: Chances are always second-last

and so is this verse,

by the minute, you’re not getting worse,

only becoming more versatile

to play pitches of several kinds.

“It’s okay to not be okay”, they all say.

I need you to know that

You have the power

to claw your way back,

wearing courage pinned to the heart on your sleeves,

to the loftiest wall of ‘OKAY’

from a wretched hole of ‘NOT OKAY’.

You are magic,

disguised in the body of a teen,

 time-lined on a range of thirteen to nineteen years.

Nonetheless, you are boundless!

By-

Divya Mistry

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