First Edit: On my 36th Birthday

[Achebe]

On my 36th Birthday

I realized today
I'm six years too late to copy you. ..... like Todd, I would enjamb at "late" and remove the second "you" in the line below

You, reborn through failed deaths,
while I like to think of dying
as that far away dog on a prairie plain.  ....I don't like the specificity of "that". I think "a" is better here. Other than that, a great line 

I accept I'll never be like you, ..... can you change this to something less wordy, such as "I'm different; there are etc"

there are no metaphors to describe
my uncut thumbs.    

But I'll still try to understand you: ....the second "I'll" and ending again on "you" are repetitive 
disillusioned with love,
burdened with family,
judged by tulips.   .... this is the high watermark of the poem for me. A brilliant line.
You, who transformed suicide
into a poetic device
by translating death's foreign language
like a prisoner at gun point.

While I count the candles on my cake,
aware they must be extinguished,
you live the only way a dead poet can.  .... who are you talking about? I wonder. It could be any number of poets dead at thirty. Plath maybe? I like the open endedness.

Solid read. Thanks for posting.