Can You Ever Forgive Me?

I have inherited a small nose and straight hair,

Long arms and a pointy stare

Too many features to count or care,

From a woman who is rarest of rare.

She's taught me to smile at guests,

a shy and mellifluous laugh is best.

For features alike this countenance of mine,

she advises I shouldn't widen my eyes (too much).

But now I find fault in these rules,

As I stare at myself in the mirror and muse -

Am I being stifled under bequeathed burdens,

Hiding myself behind tear-stained curtains?

So, I vie for last place in her eyes -

Disappointed, as I choose to strike-

-off every bit and piece of advice

This woman has given me all my life.

I shout and I care, and I fight for unfair

reasons that are entirely her fault and glare,

At her for closing the grand ballroom 

Of my freedom and leaving me bridled with gloom.

But I forget -

She comes from a long line of unsolicited advice,

Like an unwanted guest visiting countless times

My mother inherited a small nose and straight hair

From her mother- a woman who is rarest of rare

-Prashansa Parwal