I already struggled…
To walk.
And now? …
I struggle
Even to sit… in this chair.
I already struggled…
To speak.
And now…
Even my hearing begins…
To disappear.
My vision blurs—
Yet still… I see…
The beauty of this world.
My body bends…
My balance escapes me…
but my spirit?
My spirit refuses… to fall.
I already struggled… to write.
Now even typing slips away.
Yet still…
still I speak in words that inspire,
because my soul has something left to say.
You can’t imagine…
The worst of the worst.
But I’ve lived it.
And still—
I breathe… smiling.
I still laugh.
I still live.
I still… inspire.
Not because I have to.
Not because I need to.
But simply…
because… I wanted to.
So tell me…
If I can—through all of this—
why don’t you?
—-Sandeep Vhandari
It’s a powerful reflection on living with immense physical struggles—losing the ability to walk, speak, hear, write, and even balance—yet refusing to let the spirit break. Despite worsening hardships, the poet chooses to smile, laugh, live, and inspire. The poem ends with a challenge to others: if I can endure and still rise, why can’t you?
