Wednesday, June 20, 2012

3. MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH

To be awakened
From a dead sleep
By a ringing phone.
To hear your older brother
At the other end
Repeating to you,
Till you get it,
Till your mind
Discerns that
This is not a dream:
“He’s saying Kivi’s dead,”
You hear your own voice
Speak the words
So that your lover
Can perhaps explain
To you what’s going on
He says a heart attack,”
As yours feels like
It’s going to beat a hole
Right through your chest.
Dead. The brother who
You haven’t spoken to
For years, the one
Who hurt you,
Shaped who you’d become --
No more the brother
You’re not speaking to,
Because you won’t, is
Now the brother
You won’t see again
Because you can’t.

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