Zodiac

i was born on sunday, march 23 at 4:00 am.
the astrology app on my phone tells me
the sun stumbled as i left the womb.
i am either aries
or pisces.
it too, is confused by my existence.

some days,
i am raging inferno
all-consuming and assertive
i take and take.
other days,
i am freshwater
slowing down to offer life,
stopping completely so that you can make your way across.

most days,
i extinguish myself.
then, i am neither –
the empty space between
two juxtaposing words.

the astrology app on my phone tells me
we try to simplify the things we don’t understand
by giving them names.
like an combination of 26 letters could ever
explain our intricate existences.

what are we underneath our names?
where can we put them down?

4 billion people on astrology apps
3 billion people looking at the sky
trying to find themselves.
we all come from
the same set of stars.
shouldn’t that be enough?

perhaps,
the days when i am
neither aries
or pisces,
i am most myself.

By Simran Kapoor

Biography:

Simran Kapoor is a student at Harold M. Brathwaite Secondary School in Ontario, Canada. Expected to graduate in 2021, she strives to make the most of every moment by documenting her favourite times in writing. Simran hopes to continue to develop as a writer as she pursues the craft further.