brotherhood

at nine o clock on wednesday

inexplicably, everyone
had things to do. except i
couldn’t remember why
if there was a prize or
where they buried my grandmother
whom i never met
and if we would have been kindred spirits.
it troubles me to think of some young man
clutching my lover to himself
and then i remember my older brother
whose lifeless corpse slipped out
maybe on a wednesday night like this
right from my mother’s body
into a bloodied bathroom.
i wonder if she caught him
or if he splashed into the toilet.
the messages all end in silence and i don’t know
what to do with this precious life.

11/09/23