Through The Canopy Of Forgotten Woods Poem by Daniel Ryan Cotler

This poem is a deeply personal exploration of the road to healing, specifically through reconnecting with the inner child that we often lose touch with after enduring pain and trauma. For me, this journey has been about breaking down the walls I built to protect myself from further harm—walls that not only kept others out but also trapped parts of myself, especially the child who once saw the world with wonder and hope. The forest imagery in the poem represents the overgrown paths we must navigate to rediscover our true selves. The walls of shame, guilt, and fear are metaphors for the emotional barriers that kept me from finding the innocence and joy that I buried long ago. These barriers were built as survival mechanisms, but in the process, they also kept me from my own heart, from the child I once was. The challenge of healing, as the poem suggests, is in tearing down those walls, brick by brick, and uncovering the parts of ourselves we thought were lost. The sapling and garden metaphors are central to the poem's message. Healing doesn't happen all at once; it's a gradual process, much like tending to a garden. At first, the inner child is fragile, like a bud that hasn't yet bloomed, but with time and care, it grows. In this sense, healing is not about returning to a state of innocence but about nurturing and protecting that innocence in a world that has tried to steal it. One of the most significant moments in the poem is when the voices of the past the ones that told me I wasn't enough—finally fade. This was a pivotal realization in my own healing: those voices, once so loud and overpowering, lose their hold when we learn to validate ourselves, to give ourselves the love and safety we once sought from others. This is what the poem ultimately celebrates: the moment of self-forgiveness, when we can finally hold our inner child and say, "You are safe now. You are enough." The closing image of returning to a garden that was always ours symbolizes the reclamation of the self—the realization that healing is not about becoming something new, but about rediscovering what was there all along. The meadow, the laughter, the joy—these are all parts of ourselves we can reclaim once we tear down the walls and let the light back in. Writing this poem was a cathartic experience for me. It allowed me to reflect on my own journey and the day I finally found peace within myself, holding the child I thought I had lost and giving him the love and validation he deserved. This is the heart of the healing process learning to love the parts of ourselves we had hidden away, and understanding that the journey back to ourselves is the greatest act of love we can give.