Inside me lives a bright echo

Inside me lives a small bright echo

Barefoot and wide eyed

Carrying pockets full of marbles and morning light

This child still believes the sun rises

Just to see us smile

Still thinks apologies heal everything

And that rain is only the sky wanting to dance

I hear the child in quiet moments

When the world grows heavy with clocks and sharp edges

When my shoulders forget how to soften

The child tugs at my sleeve

Asking why we stopped drawing on fogged windows

Why we traded fireflies for phone screens

Why we learned to swallow our laughter

There is a garden behind my ribs

Where scraped knees bloom into courage

Where tears dry into salt that tastes like the sea

Sometimes I lock the gate

Afraid of how tender that place can be

Afraid of wanting too much

Of hoping without armour

But the child waits patiently

Building castles out of breath

Naming every star after a secret dream

When I finally kneel down

And press my ear to that small steady heart

I remember

Wonder is not foolish

Softness is not weakness

And joy is a language I have always known

So I take the child by the hand

And we walk forward together

Not to become someone new

But to return to who we have always been