Celebrating her uniqueness| Poem by 12 year old from Bangalore

I hear Tara cry the minute she comes home,

And I know something’s not right,

She seems afraid to tell me what’s going on.

But I don’t know how to make her feel better…

It’s dinnertime,

Her favorite lasagne on the table,

She pushes away her plate,

And I hear her slam the door.

Mom and Dad are out for the night,

But it can’t be that! She loves hanging out with me.

I open her door,

And hug her tight,

“Tell me what’s on your mind,

I am here to help,”

“When people say you are different,

When they say you are weird?

When you feel no one’s around,

To hand you a compliment or two,”

She cries and hugs me back,

I am confused.

Shouldn’t she be proud, she’s different.

She’s unique,

She’s special.

She’s lucky,

And most of all happy!

Then I realize, she doesn’t know that yet.

And it’s up to me,

To make her understand.

“Your differences are what make you unique,

That’s what makes you diverse,

That’s what makes people envy you,

So just go along with it,

Your love for yourself makes you strong,

Your confidence makes you a true leader,

Your happiness makes you a social butterfly,

Not to mention invincible!”

She smiled at me her good old smile,

“But now I’m hungry, do you have a solution for that too?”

“Sure, I do Missy, the lasagne is on the table!”

We jumped down the stairs,

And ate our meal,

I was proud.

Proud that I have a sister who was special,

Proud, that I had taught her one of life’s biggest lessons,

And sure, enough the next day,

She was happy again!!