child

i wish my tiny self could have met yours

handed you a daisy 

with shaking, nervous hands 

she would have brushed the hair

out of your eyes

and counted the freckles on your face

she would have brought your smile back

i am sure of it

because when i think of my younger self

i cannot help but smile 

she was very good

at making others smile

 her own smile glued to her face 

hastily stuck in place 

i remember it all

most of the time

she was not happy

but looking back on her

makes me so happy

i imagine you to have been quiet

as a child

perhaps that is why you are now so wild

making up for lost time

in time

i think we learn

the right time

to define self 

is the moment you find

those petals on your spine

self discovery is a scary thing

but it is extraordinary 

and i wish my small self

could have witnessed the moment

your small self

pulled the first of those petals

turned them over in your hand

and finally began to understand 

i would have swapped petals

back then, they were daisies

now i think

they’re likely sunflowers

i think yours now

would be something i’d like to hold

and i write this 

in the staff room 

at lunch time

because even though

i was inspired at 7 this morning

life does tend to get in the way 

work overrides art

and logic outweighs the heart

the poem is not as good

as it would have been

had i written it then and there

but im learning not to care

because my small self

would not have cared

for anything more

than the daisy in your palm

and the sun in your hair

i would have loved you then

and i love you now

all the more. 

12:53pm - 03/07/25