I look in the mirror and I see,
These eyes I have,
No longer belong to me.
This wide, doe eyed stare,
In a face I used to recognize.
These are not my mother's eyes
I know this look.
I know this gaze.
Caring and compassion,
Backed by the strength
Of the steel belts life has beaten me with.
This is the look I know from you.
But you are more than this:
Grandmother, friend, sister and mother.
The determination I see staring back at me.
Is what you gave me.
What you raised me to be.
Some might say I have you on a pedestal,
That I make you more than you are.
But I don't.
I see the reality as it is.
You should stand,
Proud and tall.
This strength I see in me,
Came from you.
This look behind the kindness,
This promise of pain
To any who would deceive.
What strength, grace and beauty I see now,
Throws me back to childhood,
When that was all I saw in you.
And wanted, coveted for myself.
You might not believe it,
In all your humility
(Which you've obviously kept for yourself)
You might shrug my words away.
But look deeply
And I know you'll see
How I see...
When I look in the mirror
And it's not my mother's eyes staring
Back at me.