“The Stage I Never Had”

By Harsh Moralikrushna Panchal

S – Situation

I was born with words

That rattled inside my ribs like caged birds—

Teachers called me too loud,

Society called me too soft.

T – Trouble / Tension

Poetry on paper is praised,

But a voice on a mic is told to hush,

To “write it down quietly.”

So my truths gathered dust,

And the world kept spinning

Without hearing me.

E – Effect / Evidence

The silence made me small,

My fire hidden under notebooks,

My heartbeat unheard,

My stories trapped,

My voice a shadow of itself.

P – Proposal / Path forward

But tonight—

Under these lights—

My words grow feet.

They stomp across the stage,

They climb your ears like vines,

They break their own cages.

By Harsh Moralikrushna Panchal