To Embrace the Child I Had Once Been
A poem on growing up
I will sound my voice through time
And reach through the swirls of years
To share the adult I have become
With the gentle girl I was once
She searched through the grass for red ladybugs
And held them in her closed palm
Their polka dots would unfurl into little wings
As they fluttered towards her in the summer light
She solely stepped upon the pavement’s unique stones
The grey blocks and cracks couldn’t be trusted
They might pull her underneath
Or swallow up her feet
And as the hero she always had to win
Every wondrous game in her inner world
But as an adult today
I walk through a sunlit city with an alert mind
A couple of screen taps unfold all maps to me
I have the superpower of making
Yellow plated taxis appear out of thin air
And I discover to my amazement
That I can take on this great wide world
All by myself — all of a sudden
I find myself more clear headed and capable
Than I ever remember being before
Time has swept me past that door of obscure gold
The famed adulthood a child looks forward to
Becomes an identity I can own at last
A newly cemented strength broadens my shoulders
But now more than ever — I feel called to look back
To reach through the swirls of time with urgency
And refuse to lose the best of myself
To embrace the child I had once been
And promise to do her proud
To forever keep the stars she immersed
As silent constellations of wonder in my eyes
To preserve that beautiful purity
As the changeless soul in an everchanging life
To let her know my debt of gratitude
That all the goodness I possess as an adult
Blossomed from the faith she had
All the countless little seeds she sowed
Grew into the rose wreaths that crown me today
This poem is my gold bouquet
To embrace the child I had once been
And promise to do her proud
