Notes From S David Prince

This might be one of my shortest verses – pardon me for calling it a poem. I don’t usually like to say I write poems because it sounds too old-fashioned. But let’s call it what it is – a quatrain, a poem with four lines.

Some time ago, I visited my old school – the secondary school I graduated from. I was there to celebrate both my sisters’ graduation. Funny enough, I posted this late; it’s been almost a year since that visit. I found this quatrain scribbled on my old desk. Well, not exactly my desk anymore -four sessions have passed since I left.

It was written by a younger me. The handwriting was faint and unclear, but anyone could tell it was mine. Only God knows how many students have read my dao- hehehe, blame all the manhwas I’ve been reading lately.

I copied the lines down that day, resisting the urge to add or edit them. I left them untouched because sometimes value lies in what’s raw and unpolished.

What surprises me most is how much the words still resonate. They hit me hard, proving that a younger version of myself understood something I still struggle with today.

I remember the day I wrote those lines. Back then, I didn’t even think I’d fully grasp their meaning when I grew up. I was 15. That was also the year I stopped receiving pocket money – not because of financial problems but because I treated it like a salary, and it pissed my parents off. I need to ask them about that one day.

But anyway, that’s not why I wrote the quatrain. I actually wrote it as dialogue for a comic I was working on then. Everyone knows Spirit Tales – the comic that still hasn’t been completed.

The lines reflected how simple my life used to be. My parents could do anything for me. They gave me everything they thought I needed. But no one really knew what I wanted.

I didn’t like it that way. I’ve always challenged myself. At age nine, I stopped asking my parents for money to buy books. Instead, I saved up my pocket money and sponsored my own literature texts and assignments throughout secondary school.

Looking back, it was still my parents funding it indirectly, but I was proud of the mindset I had, even if sometimes I wish I could c*rse whoever gave it to me. Mxm.

I stopped receiving pocket money at 15, and here I am, still alive and breathing. I want my life to return to the comfort it used to have. Occasionally, my mum sneaks some money into my account. Let’s pretend I don’t see them.

Maybe those lines mean more to me now because adulthood is kicking in.

Update

Just last week, I was talking to my mum about why I dropped out of school (not dropout dropout, but not just furthering my education to HND. I completed my ND programe already). I told her it’s because I want something bigger.

She looked at me and said alot and i’ll quote her line, “Stay out of problems.”

That hit me hard. It rang a bell.

I realized it’s exactly what I’ve been doing; trying to stay out of problems. I seek comfort and a good life. But it seems the only way to find that comfort is by stepping out of my comfort zone. Now I’m sure it’s going to get harder.

2026 Me: Yeah Harder indeed. did I know I’ll be studying law and have more financial burden when I wrote this.I shall not break

In this context, comfort isn’t just ease, it’s my dreams and goals.

And it’s Everybodys’