Amelia wants to flee

Why be so sleepy?

You promised life to a life.

You, the mirror’s favourite child,

confused between applause and affection —

wanting to please the city itself,

each estate,

every stranger in the vicinity,

the uncles, aunties, ma’ams, sirs,

the coffee guys, the Auto annas —

all of them but one, Amelia.

Committed to the society,

you kneel before its plastic throne.

Why wait? Go on, put a ring on it —

marry the noise,

the nods, the good guy tag,

The handshakes

the small talk that claps for nothing.

Why paint your face so much?

Even your mirror looks tired.

Do you even know who you are?

The night does —

it whispers your confusion into the windowpanes

that sweat when you pass.

You are drenched.

A daily fixed coffee appointment with Amelia —

you call it love,

but it feels like maintenance.

The clock yawns beside you,

your words taste like lukewarm effort.

A bitter word of contempt, 

Your indulent sleep, the little downpours, 

Your soulmate — society —

staring back with powdered cheeks and hollow applause

Everything stops you.

You are cold.

But she needs warmth —

not borrowed kindness,

not the kind that flickers for display.

A sense of importance,

a small space where she matters.

Her biggest dream?

To be important to someone —

to be applauded, not looked down upon.

Tell her she’s doing great,

not out of duty,

but because you see her trying,

daily, desperately.

Offer a coffee when she’s freezing,

not as routine,

but because you can't see her struggle.

A little consideration, a little respect —

to put the phone away

when her silence asks for company.

Don’t call her sadness exhausting;

it’s just her heart stretching itself 

But it's too far from you.

She doesn’t want the appointments,

or the calendar of affection —

just true warmth,

the kind that doesn’t need a reminder to show up.

Maybe you were shaped like this,

a fear stitched into your laughter.

But the dolphin is unhappy.

She wants to flee this shadow

tear the strings,

and swim into her own light.

Where there is love.

(This is a satirical free verse reflecting on the effect of people pleasing in relationships, when a partner tries too hard to please the society, it's mushy for the other- the sense of meaninglessness and unimportance that steer through them is depicted in a third person pov. Amelia, the conflicted lover feels exhausted and unwanted in the relationship and she shares it with her friend. The friend writes it to her lover )