This poem is born in the sleepless hours of a student’s night – where exhaustion and ambition press upon each other, and the mind refuses the rest, the body desperately needs. Raunak writes from the heart of competitive exam culture, trying to get into a good college, mapping the inner weather of anxiety with startling precision. Yet what makes this poem remarkable is its refusal to stay in the dark. Through the imagery of serotonin as a quiet, stubborn light, Raunak finds not a solution, but something more honest — a promise. A reason to sleep. A belief that morning will come. At its heart, this poem embodies the spirit of Poets & Peace: that peace is not the absence of chaos, but the choice to keep going through it.
Until the Morning Breaks
There can be no peace in the world,
when the mind creates its own
violent storms within.
After a long, hectic day, running on fumes,
you still have to do the work
As if chasing the moon.
Your whole body burns out, and brain blacks
You crave sleep, but your eyes don’t cut the slack.
The atmosphere is silent, and brain in defiance.
You want to control your emotions,
But tensions of future rise
Like the pulling of the oceans
Under heavy, clouded skies.
You seek a calm within the chest,
To keep the panic still.
But worry puts you to the test
Against your very will.
Yet as the shadows of night grow darker
And nothing seems possible –
Your serotonin lights up
And gives you hope.
that even if the night is at its darkest,
the sun will arise soon.
So still your mind,
and go to sleep.
The day is near
in which you will glow.
But before that, find your solace
and make a promise
Even when the day questions your patience,
Tether your hope and will,
Even when your success feels camouflaged,
Stay honest. Stay consistent.
For no peace can anchor in the soul
where overthinking storms reside.
So calm the winds, find your light,
until the morning breaks the night.t.
Poet Details
Raunak Raj
Kanpur, India
17 years old
