Still the Same Little Girl

As she always has been 💞

I asked a woman silver-haired,
Whose quiet wisdom filled the air
“What does it feel like, nearing where - 
Most years now rest behind somewhere?”

She smiled as though she’d heard before,
That tender question at her door
Then softly stirred her cup of tea,
And shared a truth like poetry

She said, “Inside, I’m still the same,
The little girl before the name - 
Of age was stitched to skin and bone,
Before the world called me ‘grown.’

The voice within has never changed,
Though all around feels rearranged
It laughs and dreams and wonders still,
With all the same young-hearted will

I spent so many years amazed,
That age arrived yet felt unchanged
For deep within, through time’s great tide,
I’m still my mother’s child inside

I’ve watched my hands grow thin and slow,
Watched winter settle in their glow
I’ve felt my memory dim at times,
Like fading bells or distant chimes

But something in me stays the same,
Untouched by sorrow, loss, or name
A spark no passing year can bend,
A soul that does not start or end”

And oh, since hearing words so true,
The world itself feels somehow new
For every elder passing by,
Still holds a child behind their eyes

The man whose shoulders stoop with time,
Still hums forgotten childhood rhymes
The woman waiting by the store
Still dreams the way she did before

And every wrinkled face we see,
Once chased the wind through fields set free
Once reached for hands to hold them tight,
And feared the thunder in the night

So when you meet the old and worn,
Do not see someone simply torn -
By years that gathered, slow and deep,
Like autumn leaves in quiet heaps

Instead, look gently past the skin,
And see the timeless soul within:
A child still longing to be known,
Still hoping not to feel alone

For something in us still remains,
Beyond the reach of passing change
And every soul, through every year,
Still longs for love and purpose here

So offer kindness while you can,
To every woman, child, and man
For underneath the passing years,
We’re all still young with ancient fears

Still reaching outward, soul to soul,
Still trying somehow to feel whole.
Still learning, though the years descend,
That love alone outlives the end

---

If you enjoyed this poem, please check out more work from myself, and others, at www.chaoticrambling.com

I would love for you to check out my recently published book, “Between Then and Now”, a collection of 60 poems written between the ages of 15 and 39, it’s currently being sold at Amazon. It’s also available on kindle unlimited.

Stay tuned for my book “Between Now and Hope.” It will be released sometime this spring. It’s a collection of poems that focus on making this world a better place.

Thank you for taking the time to read my words.