Oh Child

Oh Child,

She couldn't have wanted to grow up fast enough,
her heart,
her heart,
a gentle giant, a creature that sees every interaction as a form of love, 

love that strangers or family alike can provide.
She couldn't have wanted to grow up fast enough,
to be able to make her own decisions by herself fast enough,
she couldn't wait for the life that seemed just out of reach to finally begin.

                              ---

Sweet Teen-ager: 
She couldn't have wanted to grow up fast enough,
she saw all the things that she wanted but could not yet have, just in the distance.
Her heart,
her heart,
a gatherer of information, experience, of dreams.
She swears that the world could be hers if only she could write it fast enough, put every detail about everything around her with the utmost respect.
The only thing(s) that ever got in her way was herself.

                              ---

Young adult-
She just wanted to be.
She wanted to flourish,
she wanted to be, and she wanted to be her authentically.
The world never stopped spinning since she was born, but now she finds herself feeling the rotation.
She's still her parents' baby girl,
but she's no longer a 'baby' girl.
She missed that simplicity,
she missed that weightlessness when the load she carries now was non-existent.

                              ---

A Tale from the Present;
Once upon a time, I couldn't have wanted to grow up fast enough, but now I'm here.
I couldn't have wanted to mature fast enough, but now I'm here.
I can make my own decisions, but I learned that
there's a consequence that comes along with each one.
I wish I could cradle her and show her the beauty in taking things slow.
The Earth's rotation is a perfect example of slow and steady.
During the fall, the leaves change slowly but surely.
I was formed with that same slow precision.