There’s something ultimately succeeding,
not so much in a job, in making money,
good works for the poor and the oppressed,
but motherhood ultimately succeeds like
success, it’s in the face of the giver, the
mother herself, as she watches her child
grow up to be like her, but not like her entirely,
for she wants her child to be better than her
actually, that’s how unselfish she is, she did
give it a try, and look where she is now, but
in all, she wants her child to be happier, to
be fuller, to be loved more, and yes, to be
richer, for who is the mother who does not
want the best for her child, and as she
washes the dishes, and collects the dirty
clothes for the lavandera or the laundromat,
do you think she minds the dirt and grime,
do you think she minds the bad smell, being
left behind when everyone is bathed and
wearing business clothes and strolling in
the mall looking for places to eat good food,
do you think she minds being a mother, oh no,
none of that, no such thing for a mother,
for her life is her child, for as long as he or she
is all right and ready and presentable to the world
she’ll be all right, that’s being a mother, nothing for
her, the whole world for her child.

Happy birthday, Jojie!