Once upon the past years,

I believed I could do anything

I thought I could soar the sky

I felt I was the apple in people’s eyes.

Well, I was quite the dumb kid.

 

For I began to overhear rumors.

I started to hear the bragging of others

I listened to their achievements.

I congratulated them.

My heart died a little.

My smile drooped a little.

But hey, I must show my smile

Because that’s what the World wants to see right?

 

Then there’s my family,

my parents began to tell me their hopes,

“Make sure you get into a top university, son.

Maybe be a doctor. Maybe be a lawyer.

Maybe be yourself. --Wait no,

just go be a doctor.”

My dreams scattered a little.

My heart died a little.

My smile drooped a little.

But hey, I must show my smile

Because that’s what the World wants to see right?

 

Later I was ambushed by High School,

the teachers poured out homeworks

and gave out B, C, D, and F.

But where is was the A? Damn, I can’t find it!

“You didn’t try hard enough”, my teacher said.

B-but what about the extra credits I did?

“It was not good enough”, my teacher said.

“I was not good enough”, I said.

My sanity disappeared a little.

My dreams scattered a little.

My heart died a little.

My smile drooped a little.

But hey, I must show my smile

Because that’s what the World wants to see right?

 

Finally, I bumped into a poetry contest,

It asked to me, “Who are you without all that ‘stuff’?”

I roared, “I am Harry.

I am a normal teenager.

I have my own achievements too.

So, stop bragging in front of me.

Encourage me instead.

I am Harry.

I want to be a businessman.

Stop throwing your ideals upon me.

Encourage me to uphold my desired career instead.

I am Harry.

I am a diligent student.

Stop saying that I did not try.

Stop burying me under your impossible utopia of expectations.

Encourage my work and correct me in my mistakes instead.

I am Harry.”

But no one will read this

so why am I writing so much?

I cannot win this

so why am I trying at all?

So I retreat behind my smile.

I hide.

I sit.

I cry.

My thoughts ceased a little.

My sanity disappeared a little.

My dreams scattered a little.

My heart died a little.

My smile drooped a little.

But hey, I must show my smile

Because that’s what the World wants to see right?

 

...right?