Happy birthday, Mom

If I was in therapy

right now,

they would be blaming it all

on my mother.

I am 25 going on

60, sometimes I think she's there

when I hear myself laugh,

I bet my nose moves the same way

hers does

when I'm talking.

I only inherited

her bad traits.

Our optometrist says

we have the same

astigmatism.

Sometimes,

we complain in unison.

Every so often

I'll look in the mirror

and I'll see her

resilience

in my own face.

I only really clean

when people are

coming over.

I don't care for

macaroni and cheese,

or mushrooms,

or men who

don't stay.

I talk a big game,

but really I

care deeply

about everything.

They say

as women get older,

they all turn into

their mothers.

They say it

like it's a bad thing.