In search:

I feel like I am nothing

What am I doing in

this place?

Sitting on the roadside

asking for money

In my torn dress.

The others don’t count me a human

Am I not the same?

A child born from

a mother

And who played the

same games.

I sleep on the road

With tears in my eyes

Wondering if I

had parents

And thinking why

they died.

— Avritti Bhattarai, Class VI, Galaxy Public School, Kathmandu

Mirror image:

Today I found a new

great friend

She was standing in

front of me

I wonder why she was staring at me

She did the exact thing that I did

We looked at each other very carefully.

She listened to what

I said

She knew how I felt

We talked about love

and life

She had been there

too it seems.

She didn’t try to

interrupt me and

When I thought it

was her time

To say something

But she just listened to me patiently

And didn’t go away

from me.

I wanted her to

understand

How much she means

to me

As I went to hug her

and thank her

Something really

startled me.

I went near her

And tried to thank her

But I realised that

My great new friend

Was no one but me in the ‘mirror’.

— Dolkar Lhamo, Class IX, Srongtsen Bhrikuti Boarding High School, Kathmandu

Ring of friends:

Friends make us happy

But sometimes friends

Also make us unhappy

Friendship is a thing

Which is like a ring

One who wears that ring

Can have a nice life

So, lets be friends

And keep on moving

Like a train.

— Kalpana Dhakal, Class X, Mahendra Bhawan H. S. Boarding School, Kathmandu

Angel:

Through the good and the bad

We have faced it all

Laughter or tears

We have been through it all.

No matter what

We stood by each other

Lending a shoulder to cry on

Or just having fun together.

The fun and laughter

That we’ve shared

Are sweet memories

That will always be there.

You are my true friend

I would not even ask for

A better friend if I had the chance

You are my angel so never change.

— Sujeena Shakya, White House College, Kathmandu

Intimate friend:

Mother is our most

intimate friend

Who adds status to your life

Defining her would be less

We can call her a fairy in

human dress.

Mother is Saraswati giving lessons for our gain

She shares her happiness and our pain

She has love in her

holy eyes

No one can dare to tell

her goodbye.

She has love in her

anger too

She encourages us to

do better work

She presents the shadow

of her love to give us strength

I can’t give back even

a little of what she has

given me

— Anupa Thapa, Class VI, Emerald Academy, Lalitpur