A/N : I recently attended a spoken word poetry workshop, where we were given a task of writing a poem with at least five stanzas of 2-8 lines each, every stanza beginning with "I remember..." We were given 15-20 minutes for this task and that's the shortest span I've ever written a piece in. This is what I came up with, an addition to my free verse collection.

So ready to dive into some glimpses of my memory? How desirable does this flashback seem to you? Does nostalgia strike you hard too when you're actually trying to avoid it? Why do you think our mind doesn't let go of our bleak past so easily? Do share your views. I've shared mine through a handful of hidden memories. I hope y'all like them! :)

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I remember...
Why? I can't tell.
Oh my friend, brain!
So reluctant to feed in answers of my textbooks,
Don't your temples trigger with that memory
Of the last morsel on my plate,
I feared to hear the heartbeat of?

I remember...
How it felt when my eyes welled up,
But a transparent dam of shame of breaking down in public
Barricaded my dehydrated, saline Dead Sea emotions,
And let them merge with the rose water my smile had made a shield of.

I remember...
When I set my foot in that small room of 8×10.
The sound of marbled metal melodies -
Those heavy ghunghroos,
Which made me get light on my feet,
As if lifting up the entire baggage of my burdened five year self -
My partners in this journey of life till date.

I remember...
Very distinctly!
That single curve on my mother's lips.
The corners sipping in every drop of tear rolling down her cheek,
Like a sweet champagne of celebration,
When I showed her my momentos of hardwork.

I remember...
My first set of couplets I considered masterpieces,
But realised,
They were just artificial beads of marbles,
Their lustre coming off
In a pool of lotus pearls,
Glinting at me in mockery.

I remember...
I remember all of it.
But sometimes I curse my brain for being a mass of rusted memories,
Until I realise,
My pleasant ones act as O2 and H2O reactors
To weaken my dark, 'ironic' past,
I'd so sturdily succumbed to.