MADE UP

First you’re born
and then you’re made,
made first in the images
of your parents’ ideas,
fashioned according to their tastes
and styles and aspirations
while you’re much made over
and modeled to their designs.

Then comes a time when you take over
the make-over role
beginning to shape your own image
to reflect the manners of friends,
identifying yourself with new ideas
and ideals from a wider world,
or maybe according to your own
soul’s code, unlocking your true identity,
made up from before you were born.

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