her birthday party

she told me,

that she still felt

young,

after asking

her what it felt

like to be 81.

no different than when

i was thirty,

or forty, she said.

the years

mean nothing

to me.

many friends have come

and gone,

two husbands 

are buried not far from

here.

yes, indeed,

i'm different according

to the mirror,

but i'm the still the same

girl that my mother

raised,

the same girl

on the swing,

the same girl that sat

patiently as she brushed

my hair before school.

now will you

light the candles so that

i can blow them

out again.