Today a man, a woman,
and a child much younger than me
asked me who I wanted to be
I responded with – Is that really up to me?
They nodded their heads yes and walked away kicking dirt into their shoes.
I thought about it for the decade I spent walking home
The month I spent trying to catch a thought on the way
The years spent trying to get a pinch of an idea
By the time I got home I knew what I wanted to be… 

I want to be a lemon tree
but not so sour that people make faces when they taste
my personality, 

I want to be delicate,
But not too delicate I can’t go through punishment 

I want to be yellow
While all the other greens surround me,
But not so yellow as green can’t blend with yellow to make a unique color 

I want to be young
But not so young I can’t experience expressing myself with more than words I want to be everything
But not so everything I can’t be too much of something
I want to be me. That’s all!

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Editorial Note: In publishing 11-year old Kika’s poem, The Bangalore Review wishes to reiterate its belief in the young, that their dreams are possible and poetry makes it happen!

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Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash