Mother
I whisper into the shadowy niche I am crouched in

I look at my naked body in the mirror
My naked face
I see my Mother in those creases of my face that are vestiges of my pain.

I am not like my Mother*
I try to convince myself
I am the opposite of my Mother in every way,
But it was her doing
It was she who reared me to be who I am.
It was she who inculcated all of the fear and doubt in me.

How could I love her?
But how could I sever the sacred mother daughter bond?
The favorable memories
Will be impressed on my psyche for a lifetime.
The traumatic memories
Are stored in my physical body
My body retracting when it perceives a resemblance of the threat
That killed my childhood.

Death is for second chances
So Mother
I'll meet you in Heaven
And let's not hold back our love
Through the effusive outpouring of love onto each other
We shall be redeemed.