about a child

Let me tell you a story about a child.

A child is helpless.

They need you to be dependable,
to validate their feelings, needs, and achievements
— their entire being rests on this foundation.

A child needs you to remain constant.

Their freedom comes from the safety of your stillness:
you’re the tree to their birdie soul,
the mountain that absorbs their storms.

A child can’t cope with the natural order of cycles,
the space and distance that support connection,
even less with the urge to shed.

Loss isn’t an option to a child constantly hungry for more.

Don’t mistake their neediness
or spontaneity for genuine connection.
What they want is unconditional,
one-way attention.

They want coddling
that patches an ever-gaping wound.
They’ll shrink to spotlight
the monster in you.

Tell me, when was the last time
you truly felt safe to say “no” to them?

When was the last time you accepted a “no”
without feeling it stir your worth?

Do you resent those who need nothing
because their self-sufficiency
exposes your dependence?

Do you judge those who ask freely
because their vulnerability
exposes your sense of lack?

Can you offer and ask
without guilt or shame?

About a child is a story about all of us.

The child appears in the shape of others
until we remember the little one in us.

We hide in the skin of adults,
stay in environments that help us to never grow up.

Let’s achieve and accomplish for the love of enough.
Then milk the systems to feel the sweet revenge
for not having enough.

We’re always the hero,
always the victim,
sometimes the responsible one.

Are you afraid of becoming what you resent?
Is this why you won’t accept agency?

The bear that hurt you is a valid memory,
the shell you wanted may never become reality.

We hurt our loved ones to protect them.
We protect ourselves by hurting them first.

We can strive and never live up to the perfect image.
Give until we’re depleted and never feel worthy
to ask for what we want.

We’re all children wearing the skin of adults
magnifying our stories of hurt
until we don’t.

We cling to stories, run from ourselves
until we stop.

Take the little one by their hand.
Don’t force them to grow up,
don’t let them steer the wheel.

Deadening or spoiling them continues the cycle.

Grow into the tree and mountain
for that sacred child.

Become the bear and shell you never had.