Resembling your Parents

by: shira

They say I look just like he does, and she does
And I say you’re wrong since I can’t see them from before
They are merely parents free of young ideas

It’s cruel when I compare myself while flinching
Mom and Dad give me something every day
The air they determined I would breathe, their creation with instructions

I can’t be like him, I love her more than he does
I can’t be like her, I love him more than her
I whisper to myself that we are happy on the inside

They never sat me down to talk, we always stand or slump
The kitchen chairs catch the best conversations
Loud and quiet
Sweet and bitter
Red and yellow

You look just like she does, honey, you look just like him
Slap me one more time, please
I crafted this body myself
With open thoughts and minds and holding hands with strangers

You little bitch
Chin up
It looks just like your father’s
People pay money for chins like those
And I paid none for mine

Flat chested like my mother
Gives us something to bond over
And my sister’s like that too
And her father isn’t mine

See your hands, they work just fine
Guess who they are from
Your eyes aren’t blue like theirs
But they’re from your loved despised

At the table in the restaurant
You said you weren’t like her
She cried with both her eyes
Always wide enough to let the tears out,
Just like yours

When you say she’s beautiful
Does that mean you are, too
No I am not beautiful
Comfortable will do

And we all love each other
Just as genetics write
We’re destined to resemble our greatest critics
As they help us to ourselves