I never knew I was a lotus

"I never knew I was a lotus" watercolor on 140 lb paper 11" x 15".
When I read Michaela's poem I was inspired to paint this. And later I used it in my book "My sad is sadder than yours". It illustrated this poem :
Lotus

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.

Michaela Malek