To Be Eight Years Old Again

Everything I ever wanted to be
I wanted when I was eight years old.
To be a wife, a mother, a teacher, an artist
all these longings crystallized inside
longing to be manifested
and in time each goal achieved, now at sixty-three
the slate is blank, what do I want to be?

My spouse and I are still living, so being a wife continues
from mother to grandmother the roles similar but different
teacher always in so many settings
an artist discovering and trying to express
from deep in my soul, that voice
or point of view, worth expressing.

If I could be eight years old again
in today’s world the choices could be different
the scripts not so traditional and predictable.
What would I be?

I would have become an artist sooner
finding ways to study with the greats
a wife and mother later
to approach those roles more clearly formed
and teaching… I would choose a more global
platform to have a wider impact
but like a stone tossed into a pond
the ripple effects go on and on.


My life as I have lived it
are fine choices for me
because I knew everything I wanted to be
when I was eight years old.