In I Died Too Early, bestselling author Sumitra Manda gives voice to the heartbreak, childhood wounds and quiet struggles we carry long after the pain has passed, offering a tender reminder that healing begins when we slowly find our way back to ourselves.
***
I grew up watching films
where lovers became enemies,
where rage shattered cities
and revenge split worlds.
But even the cruellest villain
could only wound the body,
bruise the will,
shake the ground beneath a life.
The heart, though,
has its own laws.
It has never been broken
by outsiders or adversaries,
only by the ones
who were invited in,
the ones who spoke softly
while holding the place
meant to keep me alive.
They say the heart is whole,
but mine beats in halves,
one still reaching for you,
the other learning to let go.
I walk around with symmetry broken,
lungs full of leftover prayers.
People call it heartbreak.
I call it surviving
without instructions.
—Half a heart
