The Child Within Us

We are the children within us—
grown, but still innocent,
in need of maternal care when our world is muddled
and suffocated by chaos,
and the days and nights are long and unforgiving.

In those moments, we do not seek answers, but only arms—
not solutions, but softness,
and empathetic ears that listen without judgment,
that hold a sacred space for our pain and our silence.

That do not tell us to calm down,
because at no time in the history of man
has anyone "calmed down"
in the middle of these emotionally devastating storms.

That do not tell us we need to take a break from our respite.
We know the freight train’s heading straight into a category five—
and we’re just trying to keep our inner child sheltered.

Let us do it.
We will know when it’s time to stop.
Be as gentle as our mamas were in the chaos
of the pains of our first broken hearts.
Then give us space, but do not leave.
Embrace us.