i don’t like being called a loser by myself, so i’ve got to chase up after my own high standards. i follow where they go. they say reach for the stars so i build a makeshift astronaut’s helmet with a fish bowl. the glass shards pucker under the pressure in space and my eyes bleed. but alas, i grope the burning, sizzling stars and collapse back onto earth. i don’t hear so much as a thanks. they check it off the list and tell me what to do next. it’s true, i’m a sucker for success. but i don’t know when to stop. “the greats never stopped”, i tell myself. therefore, if i stop, i’m not a great. what i can’t accept is that people are different. we have different strengths and weaknesses. i know, i know; “not many are a published poet at 16!!!” but that sentence sickens me; i won’t even linger my eyes at what i hold now. to me, that picnic basket of trophies and jams is deteriorating. i’m above it; i’m the clouds.

rha arayal, 16 is a fresh, unique emerging poet. she is of British Nepalese ethnicity and lives in South Wales. she started by establishing a growing Instagram poetry page, @encapsulated_emotions and never looked back. now, she’s fallen in love with prose and always has a fountain pen and notebook by her side. Her Instagram address is @encapsulated_emotions.