I've always been picky about what I eat,

struggling to eat food unless the cook cheats.

It all depends on how the food was cooked.

How exactly should this chicken look?

Again and again, when my birthday came around,

Mom always made the same thing that I ate by the pound.

One on top of the other mashed potatoes, ground beef, and cheese, 

baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes until golden brown please.

Mashed potatoes as soft as the lullabies that Dad used to sing,

Cheese needed to be gooey, like melted ice cream.

Ground beef needed to be salty, like my eyes when Mom died-

all together in one delicious, perfect Mickey Mouse Pie.