Shall I meet you halfway? | Teen Ink

Shall I meet you halfway?

August 13, 2011
By Raisa GOLD, Dinajpur (Sadar), Other
Raisa GOLD, Dinajpur (Sadar), Other
10 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever dare to achieve greatly."


Shall I meet you halfway? Who will decide if it is exactly half? I assume the miles counted and defined before us will give a notion of measure, oceans will expand and contract, the waves will scare me off wanting to stay put; but I still ask you one more time – do you want me to meet you halfway?

It is the end of the mango season and the ripe smell has turned into sunshine, the butterflies have left town to love in peace and I hear they are at the outskirts of the city, turning into caterpillars. Remember when I told you that story about the jar of caterpillars my grandmother collected for me just to show me the biology behind the poetry? I was nine. The two caterpillars lay side by side turning green. I fed them lemon leaves. They never ate in front of me but when I would wake every morning I would find little bite-sized holes on the leaf and it made me happy. I smelled like fresh limes and stared at the cocoons waiting for transformation. Twenty-one days later the butterflies fluttered their moss-olive wings. They met halfway turning into one, shared the same like, exactly in half. Shall I meet you like that? Halfway somewhere?

I hear it’s also warm where you are. The streets breathe smoke and the smell of dry tar mixes in with popsicles. I hear you are learning to climb again – rocks and trees. Who is belaying you now? Checking your knot to see that you made a perfect figure eight? Holding the other side of the rope so you can climb on? Shall I meet you halfway?

Send me the other end of the rope; I will look out for it. Pull me in so I can free climb through smooth and bumpy roads where every step seems large some days. I will hold on to the rope and move through traffic jams, tie it around my right arm while the left waves goodbye to the returning crows in this city. Pull me in fast before the angry end of the sky starts to pour, pull me in will you, so I can meet you halfway?

And, no, I will not meet you in a quarter or full, and I won’t let you come to where I stand. I want the middle; not foe balance, not for the comfort of being equal, but for re-establishing my belief that there is such a place called halfway and to reach it I need to be half more the
woman I am, and you too perhaps, giving up half of what we are so we can face the half and unite. Isn’t that a great challenge, a perfect understanding? People are claiming there is no such thing; that there is no such point, so why don’t we prove them wrong and meet halfway?

And when I do meet you there, even if it is a dump or the border of Kashmir, or the middle of Gaza, even if it is a tip of a pyramid, I will stand still and embrace you. Even if you show up as death or an old song, just promise me that you will meet me halfway.


The author's comments:
The person who inspired me to write this, has been inspiring me for all my life. And I want to let her know that I love her so and that she's the best!
The 'she' is me. :)

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This article has 33 comments.


ladywave23 said...
on Jan. 23 2015 at 12:35 pm
ladywave23, Easley, South Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
Nothing is impossible as long as you believe

Great piece! I really enjoyed reading this! Keep up the great work! :)

Mrinny said...
on Jun. 7 2013 at 12:37 pm
Amazing!! this is just too beautiful

Rahman32489 said...
on Jun. 7 2013 at 12:40 am
wow this is so beautiful

AderaldWite said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 11:02 am
this is a really unique style of writing :-)

IloveJB said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 7:01 am
great stuff :)

on Jun. 6 2013 at 6:04 am
just too great!!!  

Anah324 said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 3:03 am
Anah324, Tampa, Florida
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
keep up the good work!

Anah324 said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 2:58 am
Anah324, Tampa, Florida
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
WWhoa this is so cute <3

Anah243 said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 2:03 am
this is more than beautiful. really a unique piece  

RashAnah said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 1:34 am
AWESOME! This is still sticking to me!

BABABABY said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 1:30 am
This is great I just cant stp reading it

on Jun. 6 2013 at 1:21 am
NAdiaPeterson, Boston, Massachusetts
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
Awww this is so simple yet so beautiful. Simply Beautiful! ahahaha

Meeruti said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 1:00 am
beautifully written

Meerkut said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 12:45 am
i love it i love it 

Azzurra said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 12:42 am
this is simply beautiful

Mikey123 said...
on Jun. 6 2013 at 12:40 am
Love it! love the way you put it together

IleasKhan said...
on Jun. 5 2013 at 2:47 pm
IleasKhan, Delhi, Delaware
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
i totally <3 it

IleasKhan said...
on Jun. 5 2013 at 2:47 pm
IleasKhan, Delhi, Delaware
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
This is very interesting thanks for your post

on Jun. 5 2013 at 2:41 pm
TheGreatAmerican, Washington, District Of Columbia
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
yeah totally..beautiful articulation

on Jun. 5 2013 at 2:41 pm
TheGreatAmerican, Washington, District Of Columbia
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
this is a very unique style of writing. keep up the good work. and hoping to seee more from you!