To My Inner Child Poem by Joan Xie

Come, my child
Lay your weary head on my lap
Let the longing overtake you
As you enter the menopause.

Come, be wild as the wildest cat
Claim no home as your home
No man as your master
No possession for permutation
No premeditation for regression
You age as you youthed
As you imaged Or never imaged
You are who you are
A child who delivered herself to
An uncontrollable lust for life
A force that the earth must embrace
And deal with.

Come, my child
Lay your weary head on my lap
Let your hidden longing be announced
As you sail into an uncharted body of water
Laugh, my child, chin up
Forty-five degree of angle always
Let the life crush you as it makes music
Let the hammer fall on you to forge a sword.
Old age shall not be naught
Never were you a good student at youth
Now you have a final chance to learn
How to die in peace.

Come, my child
Lay your weary head on my lap
Close your eyes at once
Before you reopen them to the universe.

(2019.5.15)