Growing Up Broke More Than Toys

Sitting in a plane, 

Can’t help but reminisce of the time when life was just me and my toys,

No studies, no stress, no random thoughts,

Just me and my toys.

And now its bills, overthinking, and pretending I’m not spiralling

Back then, the world was small enough to hold in my hands. 

No missed calls, no unread thoughts.

Just soft mornings, scraped knees,

And believing the worst thing in the world was a broken toy. 

As I stare out the window, 

All I can see is darkness, darkness is the way in my heart,

But isn’t darkness just another work of art. 

There’s something beautiful about how quiet it gets.

Like the dark knows when you’ve had enough noise.

It doesn’t ask for anything, 

Just sits with you.

And sometimes, thats all you need.

Just something that stays.

Being in darkness has taught me that life will throw you down sometimes, 

But its how you function and respond to that darkness,

Do you let it consume you or do you defeat it and become a better version of yourself.

As it is said that tough circumstances make a tough man,

 being in the darkness and learning how to overcome it will make you an even stronger person.

There were days I didn’t want to grow.

didnt want to rise.

I just wanted to feel something that didn’t ache.

And maybe thats still growth,

Not always getting stronger,

Just getting through.

Quiet wins, deep breaths. Showing up anyway.

Staring in the abyss,

Watching as Darkness consumes all of it,

Can’t help but ponder about how if there was no darkness we would never get the value of light.

And when the light comes back,

We wont owe it our healing.

We’ll know

We carried ourselves through.

We stitched ourselves together in the dark.

And somehow,

That was enough.

-Aaron Dcosta & Angelica Dsouza.

© 2025 Angelica Dsouza & Aaron Dcosta. All rights reserved.