Yes You Can

Perfection hovers, subtly out of reach,
adjacent to unmet, as yet, potential,
the one that mom evoked in every speech,
in tones both resolute and reverential:
Remember, you can do it, yes you can!
If only moms could bottle that belief,
and you could take a sip of it, and then,
transformed into the best of you, as if
mere words could mold, infuse that kind of power.
Life soon betrays the mantra, a false hope.
You will not save a princess from her tower,
nor do you have the courage to elope
and live the life she told you that you should.
If mom is always right, it's Hollywood.