I’m a mosaic of everyone I’ve ever met.

I’m a mosaic of everyone I’ve ever met.

I’m a mosaic of everyone I’ve ever met.
I laugh at the smallest things,
Because my dad once said to me, ‘What is life without humor?’.
I have an anthology of songs that I love,
Because someone I loved,
Loved them first.
I’m a kaleidoscope of everyone I’ve ever loved, even for a heartbeat.

I always listen to the stories strangers tell me,
Because my friend once told me, “No one is sent by accident to anyone”,
And I’m only one small star in an entire universe,
An alleyway in a winding metropolis.
My heart is a tattered roadmap of every place I’ve ever left.

I’m a montage of everyone I’ve ever met.
I open the windows when it rains,
Because my mom once said it reminded her of home.
I prize knowledge over everything,
Because I heard a stranger mumble to his acquaintance that there was nothing more
important.
I’m a tessellation of everyone I’ve ever noticed, even for a moment.

I try to remember anything memorable,
Take photos of every moment,

even the bad ones.

Because we contain multitudes.
I send up a prayer whenever I hear the siren of an ambulance,
Because it is what I saw my loved ones doing as a child.
My brain is but a book of every word I’ve ever heard whispered.

But sometimes my mind plays tricks on me.
I’m scared that those who make me
Will

leave.

So forgive me if I am more empathetic,
More unconventional,
And perhaps even more erratic than anyone you’ve met.
But then again,

I’m just a patchwork of everyone I’ve ever met.

And maybe,
You are too.

~ Stuti Rawat

Submission Rationale

My submission reflects how we, as people, all influence one another and, in essence, create each others identities.

I was inspired by a quote by Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) 'Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of
everyone I've ever known', which led me to think about how we are all essentially a reflection of those that we care about:
picking up their habits, personality traits and other characteristics, and, more often than not, we do this unknowingly.

This really struck me because, in a world like ours, we are often so wrapped up in ourselves that we don't realize that we are
truly made up of those who we surround ourselves with - they are the ones who create nuances in our identities. This is what I
wanted to embody in my poem and I hope that the reader takes some time to consider their own identity and what makes them
who they are because it is so often overlooked.

Thailand's 1st Interscholastic Student Newspaper

I’m a mosaic of everyone I’ve ever met.