Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

I had coffee with my younger self today. I looked at her and saw her innocence. I said hi with a smile, and she smiled back at me — forcefully. Her smiles were as disingenuous and uncomfortable as the clothes she wore. I asked how she was doing. She shrugged lazily and muttered, “I’m okay… how about you?” But I know her — more than she knows me. She said that only to keep from weighing me down with her burdens. I reached out and touched her fingers pressed against the edge of the table. She timidly let her guard down and received me. I told her that her eyes betrayed the very lies on her lips, and her posture only confirmed them. So I spent hours reminding her of her worth — how it does not rise and fall with others. I spent hours tending to her flowers, guiding their delicacy. Hours, until the light that feeds growth returned to her eyes. Even though time separates us, I am her, and she is me. She may feel out of place, but I know her — even more than she knows me. Because the girl sitting across the table was, and still is, me.