Youth Poem by Shalini Samuel

Can you stop the aging?
It slips through your fingers.
Gather it, but like ice cubes, they will escape
You can't cage the invisible air
It's there in your every breath, eating your life.

One day, you will become tired.
You will accept defeat.
You will stop running from death.

But yet the cliffs you jumped
The crocodiles you outsmarted
Love that you gave from your heart
The tears and the sweat of your past

The memories that play like a movie
Reminds of an incredible youth

Did I know that early? Oh God, I sigh in despair.
Wouldn't I have cherished and painted each bubble
With colors, starlight, and shiny anything
But still, I am happy for the story I am part of.