Thank God for Inner Child Work

“You? An artist? Don’t be silly.”

A careless dismissal dropped

on a lopsided, colorful clown.

The critic forgot the moment within minutes.

The mother kept the crumbled paper for decades.

And the girl kept that feeling.

She carried the quiet joy

of raw creation in her chest—

past the shadows of the past,

until the woman picked up the brush

and came back to

what the child began.