SNIGDHA AGRAWAL

 

 

Time Belongs To Me

 

Reached the finishing line

not a winner

not a runner-up

yet deeply satisfied

to have come this far

 

Hereon, there will be

no looking back

only a slow walk

towards the horizon

shaking loose the guilt

accumulated over a lifetime

 

Hereon time belongs to me

an unhurried pace,

a room of my own,

days no longer measured

by another's demands.

 

Hereon, I will live life

to fit the definition

I have chosen for myself,

owing no apologies

for the space I occupy,

or the woman I have become.

©Snigdha Agrawal

 

In The Woods I Find Myself

 

I made myself a promise:

to hang up my boots,

take up residence

deep in the woods.

Chasing mirages,

applause, approval

None of it, did me any good.

 

Now that I'm here,

There is no need

to keep up pretences.

I am finally at ease,

living beyond scrutiny,

free to be myself.

 

The wind understands me better

than those self-appointed doyens

of professionalism,

forever policing the rules

of a game they invented,

Then changed them

whenever it suited them.

 

Here, the trees ask nothing.

The rivers do not judge.

The sky keeps no score.

And I am in love again

this time with myself,

rediscovering the gifts

I was born with,

the very gifts they dismissed,

belittled and tossed aside

as inconvenient truths.

Now I am the author of my own life

And I write it, with a quiet,

unstoppable resolve.

©Snigdha Agrawal

 

SNIGDHA AGRAWAL

 

SNIGDHA AGRAWAL (née Banerjee) brings over two decades of corporate experience to her multifaceted writing career. A versatile author, she writes across genres, including poetry, short stories, prose, and travelogues. Raised in a cosmopolitan environment and educated in a convent school and college run by Irish nuns, she blends Eastern depth with Western sensibility in her work. She is the author of five published books, spanning poetry and short fiction. Her most recent release, Fragments of Time, a deeply personal memoir, is available worldwide on Amazon. Her writings have appeared in numerous domestic and international anthologies and literary journals. In recognition of her poetic craft, she was recently nominated for the 2024 Pushcart Prize. Now in her seventies, Snigdha’s passion for writing and travel remains as vibrant as ever.