"perceptions"

If only the woman I am

could meet the woman I’ll be

and the child I was

could meet the woman I am;

these bittersweet moments,

how far I have come

yet how far we have drifted,

the way I do not see the same person

when my name is called

make up for the days

where I could barely visualize my own reflection

among the flowers

and the ones where I would beg for their perceptions.