I never knew I was a lotus

Watercolor on paper.

11x15"

Original watercolor artwork "I never knew I was a lotus" 2023 by Ala Ilescu Watercolor on 140 lb paper 11" x 15".Vertical position. Signed. This is the original painting from the art/ poetry book that I published in 2023 "My sad is sadder than yours" Here is the poem featured with this painting:
i’m a flower bulb
that was told
it wasn’t meant to bloom
so i never tried

i dipped my world
in pitch black color
and shut out the sun
for years

i turned into the blot
they reduced me to
defined myself by the dirt
i was tossed into

my soul overgrew
with brushwood
and thorns

like a garden
that’s been neglected
and forlorn

i never knew i could shine
through the darkness
of past experiences

i never knew i could rise
through the murky waters
and float upon the surface

i never knew i could bloom
untainted by the mud
from which i emerged

i never knew i was a lotus - not a rose
i grow in different places
i bloom in different ways
but that doesn’t mean
that i’m not worth the same.
[ lotus. ]

Michaela Malek