When you blow out
your birthday candles — oh, don’t sigh.
Don’t think another year gone
or that your life is diminished
or how fleeting the flame is.
Think about how here you stand,
here you still stand blowing out
the tiny candles yet again on this
September date with your curly
hair and wild wild spirit and you,
you are not extinguished — no, you’re not.
Despite everything, despite it all.
You burn bright, baby.
You burn bright.
Now have some cake.