Insects scurry away

From trampling

human feet

I jump and scamper

All down the street at night

No traffic holds me back

The road is mine

And I am free.

I look up at the street lamp

Drooping like an

ancient monk

It is only when I realise

There’s a faint drizzle, tonight

I skip all about the way

The light is mine

And I am free.

I run about the guava tree

The only tree around

Circling round and round

A puppy chasing its

own tail

Unembarrassed,

I climb up

The tree is mine

And I’m free.

Frogs croak away happily

And so do I, a song or two

Like a lunatic, I

ramble along

Tell the moon, I envy her

But no one calls me a creep

The air is mine

And I am free.

I am liberated to see

To touch, to feel, to hear,

to sing

I am the most of me

Nobody to share the

sheer joy

Of silent isolation

The night is mine

And I am free.

— Rhea Gurung, Class X,

St Mary’s High School, Jawalakhel