The Story of.....Why The Battle Is Never Over

Once upon a time,

There lived a girl who was bubbling with emotions and strong opinions. 

Wherever she looked, and she looked hard,

Nobody really seemed to understand why she seemed to feel as strongly as she did.

They always seemed to see her as a rebel without a cause.

The girl however always said one day, you shall see, why the battle is never over!

All she wanted was for somebody to look at her and say

Yes! I too have felt this way!

I too have yearned for the day when we all walk equal

unfettered by the shackles of societal expectations,

I too have felt enraged at the injustice of it all,

where one can't love who they truly want to love,

one can't be who they really want to be.

I understand the battle is never over!

She decided reality was unfair,

it was complacent in everyone's despair

So she turned to something bigger, something more idealistic

where no matter how big the struggle, the ending would always end up happy

The media showed her all kinds of stories, some joyful, some mischievous, some tranquil, and yes, some even inspiring

But even then she saw that the battle is never over!

Wait, said the girl

This is much too devoid!

Devoid of what? said everyone rolling their eyes

devoid of color, devoid of femininity, devoid of different class, devoid of diversity!

Enough! they said

You have talked enough.

These things don't matter in the larger scheme of things.

You are wrong, the girl thought to herself. The battle is never over!

She wondered what the larger scheme of things meant.

Did the larger scheme entail swallowing frustration, 

turning your frown upside down into a forced grimace

keeping your lips shut until you barely remember to form the words anymore

feeling a piping hot lump of....something in your throat

something you can't put into words

until you remember that your frustration has been there all along.

The girl clenched her fists and reminded herself, the battle is never over!

The girl thus shook her head and proudly claimed

I shall talk, I shall walk and I shall stand up

But why? They persisted. Aren't things better now?

Because, the girl said resolute

the battle is never over

Years later, with chaos and anarchy all around

They come to her in tears

you were right, they say. these things matter.

Our voice matters. What do we do?

The battle is lost and we are doomed.

No we are not, the girl says, still resolute

if you had only paid heed to my message true

you would know that the battle is never over!

But what do we do? The people cried out.

Speak, scream and shout?

The girl smiled in irony.

When the waters around you are still, you talk to create ripples of change.

But when the waters around you are raging, you act fast.

You lend a hand to those around, you see the humanity that was always there all along. 

You see the underdog as they are stomped on by the top dog

and for once, you stand up for what is right.

For once you see that just because things seem fine doesn't mean that's how they're meant to be.

Treat everyone the way you'd treat yourself and even when things finally become alright

remind yourself: THE BATTLE IS NEVER OVER!

*Disclaimer: Hello everyone, decided to do something new today and write a poem because why not?   The poem above is a work of fiction but may as well be applied to our real lives.Remember to always stand up for what's right and to never lose your voice in a world that tries hard to drown it out amidst all the ones that say 'this is how it is'.

"I took the road less travelled by, 

and that has made all the difference."

-Robert Frost

                             

Till next time!