Happy Birthday

As I lit a cigarette and took a sip from my intoxicating beverage,
I looked at the calendar,
It said January 22nd
26 I am
In the words of Muddy Waters :
“..
Now, when I was a young boy
At the age of five
My mother said I was gonna be
The greatest man alive
But now I’m a man
I’m age twenty-one
I want you to believe me, honey
We having lots of fun …”

Anyway,
This is a usual birthday
Just like the previous 25
Unremarkable, in the grand scheme of things
I never celebrated birthdays
Or anything really
Except for my downfall, unironically
And for that one time when I got a cat
And when Lilac and I met
What a blissful way to go through life
It’s ironic,
I do like numbers
So ignoring my own number seems weird
I have to admit though,
I have a love hate relationship with the number 22
It is a palindromic number
Unlike me
I’ve been told I’m a closed book
Yet I knew someone who could read me
How often did someone see through you?
I’m not sure if I did
Do I still visit you in your dreams though?
Wait, let me take another sip and then we’ll continue
Whatever this is.

My mother always finds ways to lift my spirits up
She said it snowed the day I was born
It was 2 days after Eid
Now, imagine snowflakes falling from heaven to welcome you home
She also says I was an unexpected gift
I sarcastically asked her if I came wrapped in fancy paper or not
She also tells me I am surprisingly less annoying
Compared to how I was , say, 25 years ago
Most people treat me differently now, because of x or y
My mother though, to her eyes, I’m always that weird boy with witty comments
The same boy who had no respect for authority
The boy, who, despite calling himself a doctor, Is the same idiot
Thanks mom and dad, this world is interesting,
I can’t complain about existing here
Thank you for deciding to have me.