Middle of the road

This year I will turn 40, 
or 788,
that is,
if I am the sum of all the years I have been,
that is,
if those years all add up to something more than
what you see
that is,
a collective culmination of
some kind of insight that edges ever closer
to what some may refer to as
wisdom
that is,
if the days spent
are what makes a life.

I have seen 160 seasons come and go
that is,
where I have looked up
to notice their passing,
I still hear my 8 year old self
stamp her feet,
I feel my 2 year old inner child
lean in for closeness,
my teenage self keeps trying to be good…
she remains resolutely misunderstood,
my broken tweenage heart
is still looking to be loved,
the young adult in me
brings me confidence, sometimes,
my mid-life self is urging to
step out of line,
my early mothering me just
looks at me exhausted,
all those hours on my knees
was a kind of love incarnate.

this year I will turn 40
and all things being equal
this will be the middle of the road,
though life spins on a 6 sixpence
I just have
2, 420 more years to go.

Image by Victoria from Pixabay