We grew from ash
Chandigarh, India
2025, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
After the storm, the ancestries still clasped,
fingers deep in overwhelmed dust,
like my grandmother’s hands in garden soil,
yield fissured, curve of grime
tucked beneath her nails.
She instructed me by what method to plant the softest things
in the hardest places—
petals against concrete,
seeds between gravel cracks,
tomatoes in container cans interlined along our kitchen shelf.
Nothing was ever too broken to evolve.
I learned that creepers will crawl
even when the latticework splinters,
that woodlands sigh through fire
and still revive green.
That bronchi will heal
if given enough air.
So I take her lessons in my own hands,
kneeling before soil, pressing stems into tomorrow.
I plant sunflowers in erased lots,
nurture weeds like intense prayers.
Let the ground cradle my hands
and whisper: again, again, again.
Because no matter in what way or manner often
we burn,
we bloom.
Reflection
My poem "We grew from ash" was inspired by the tenacity of both individuals and the natural world. Stories about plants sprouting through pavements cracks, forest recovering from wildfires and my grandmother caring for a garden even in a little urban area served as an inspiration for me. These experiences served as a reminder to me that resilience is about the growth and change rather than only surviving. I now have a better understanding of how nature teaches us resilience thanks to this contest. Life goes us, whether it's a youngster planting a flower in an abandoned lot or a charred forest growing new leaves. I want my readers to know that there is always hope fir reconstruction, even in the face of devastation. We have the resilience to re-grow, just like nature.