Dad

Dad, 

I need your help.

Please hate me.

Push me into the unknown. 

You have always been there for me.

Someone to fall back on. 

A loving hand to hold. 

But your love drains me

of my love for the unknown.

I want to stand on my own feet;

I wish to control the ground I stand on.

But now, I want to run away,

from every gust that comes my way.

Even when my heart pleads so hard,

its curiosity is killing me,

eating me up from the inside.

This war leaves scars inside me.

My heart wishes to fly away, to unknown lands,

facing any stream that comes my way.

But habit holds me back.

Force me out, father.

I do not want to live this battle.

-Shantipriya Shennoy