Brother

Brother,
Oh, my God, how you steal my features,
Encapsulate them inside your hands,
Long and slender fingers, like mine,
Silver wedding band on your ring finger.

I want to play Connect the Dots with the sun spots on your shoulders.
I want to sit in the cornucopia of your ear.
I want to sit with you,
3am at the kitchen table,
Cigarette smoldering between your long, slender fingers,
Tell me everything you know about being twenty- one.

Here is the World as I see it now.
There is no fair.
My body has been tired since I was a child.

Brother,
First boy I ever loved.
First boy who ever stood up for me.
On most days, the only boy who stood up for me.

Brother, this World has not been good to me.
You always said there would be struggle,
But
Are my eyes
Supposed to be this dark?
Brother,
I think I am too young to feel so tired.