As a Child

As a child I wanted to be a doctor
To cure people of disease
As a teen I wanted to be a neurosurgeon
To fix brains with a scalpel

As a young woman
I became a psychotherapist
To fix troubled youth with broken lives
With the exchange of spoken words

I kept falling apart
My brain was broken
My thoughts self-loathing or racing
My emotions unbearably intense

Over and over
I sought and received help
First with psychotherapy
Later with medicine

Today I remain a broken woman
Still healing, still learning
Today I use words, written words, spoken words
To touch, heal, and teach others

Or so I hope