Part Of Me

It's not so much that I don't know which label applies,

I don't need any one label, I have many.

I'm trying to remember who I am, to me.

What makes those labels fit me.

Which are temporary or malleable.

And which are unyielding and constant.

I am a mother, first and foremost, always.

Friends know that and accept it as a part of me.

I need not worry that it is a burden on them.

I need not modify my actions or behaviours.

A friendship with me comes within a package.

It cannot be extracted for simplification.

Nor should separating the "mother" from the "friend" be asked of me!