The Child Within

She let nothing faze her
when she was young,
determined to create
challenges beyond what life
brings, and to meet them,
every one, from achieving
academic heights to
ministering to the spiritual
and emotional and physical
needs of others, while
satisfying her inner conceit
of self-sufficiency. Now
middle-aged, experienced
as a ministering pastoral
chaplain and solver of a
myriad of conundrums, she
has never left her inner child
unattended, much less
abandoned, and when times
are right, she recalls her
young self, cajoling within
herself its reappearance.