Unquiet Home |  |
My brother was ten when I joined him in this life
to cure the hurt befalling man and wife.
I live between the silence and the strife
in this unquiet home.
He earned a reputation at school and on the street
where confrontation was his game,
manipulation earned him bread
and a place to sleep
He was known to say at least a hundred times a day
that things just never went his way and lately,
much to my dismay, they say he ought to be put away
because he has a price to pay.
Became an only child at twenty-one
with no return of the prodigal son, when he pulled a gun
and paid for another man's life with the price
of the life of his own.
His guilt was never questioned.
No actions were contested
Either in a court of law
Or at the dinner table.