The Child Within

So long ago,
through teenage years
fuelled by, and hormone driven,
my soul would oft’ find solace
and embrace
     the child within.

A young adult,
caught in the race
to get ahead, to win,
I blundered blindly, lost, alone,
and shunned
     the child within.

And then one day,
in middle age,
I paused, and looked around me:
and in that place of peace and light
I found
     the child within.

In coming years,
as my life wanes,
accomplishments forgotten,
may time kindly allow me
to rejoin
     the child within.

*  Painting by Erin Fanning