to seven-year-old me

i hope that there can come a time 
where you can forgive me 
for all i have done 
to leave you behind 
because 
you weren't stupid, you know? 
and people might have hated you 
but you were happier 
than i ever could have been 
and you were braver 
and kinder 
and better, perhaps, 
in ways i've forgotten 
i could be 
and i remember you 
as a girl who was gentle with her brother 
who named the lizards hiding in her walls 
who loved hanging upside-down from the monkey bars 
unabashedly proud of things i'd be ashamed of 
and yes, you were selfish, and yes, you could sometimes 
be cruel 
and you didn't understand why people were so 
complicated 
but neither do i. 

i'm glad i was you. 
despite everything, 
i'm glad to have been 
me.