My Brother

IN MY MIND, Flashes,
Nothing totally whole, still-frames defined,
Mostly in Winter, more fragmented Summer.
All out of order.

My Brother,
Black, utilitarian fingerless gloves and
The Black Leather Duster,
Smoke in hand,
He is
A Superhero.

My Brother
Protects me from the Monsters.
So brave and so strong,
So smart and so kind.
Loved like he Raged,
Completely and Honestly.

My Brother,
Renfest twilights,
Swords, mead and fireworks,
Monk's robe and borrowed boots.

He wore sandals and shorts in the snow, and
Black every day in high school
Because they told him he couldn't-
Katy in the '90s.
He went to classes sometimes.

Sci-fi geek,
My Brother,
Star Trek, wanted Amazing Grace
on Bagpipes
Like Spock had in Wrath of Khan.
(We did the best we could on short notice, Mig)

My Brother,
in the Yellow Bird, Terrible Thunder Chicken,
Firebird as old as me,
Picked me up after school
Driving in the heat.
Stereo blaring
Metallica's Black Album,
Alanis's Jagged Little Pill.
(He loved her as God in Dogma)

Driving to the Post Office
In the Summer sun,
Windows down, his left arm
One Solid Freckle
From the burning light.

Watching The Meaning of Life
at 4AM in his 3rd floor apartment
with Doc, the dog that liked to gnaw
Fingers and arms.
So many swords,
I slept in an armory.

Watching He-Man and Doctor Who
When we were kids,
Scarves and Daleks and
Swords and Tigers,
Dreaming of far-off places
Because living here is
Harsh and Hard
But we have each other.

We three were our own army,
Back to Back to Back against the world.
Some things only we know,
Mom and Miguie and Me.

On the night my Father chased us and put
the Baseball Bat through Miguie's Door
("Knock, Knock, Knock")
My Brother, standing alone
Against my Father
On the edge of the Storm.

My Brother on Hallowe'en
The Suburban full of stick-up lights
Shaped like cartoon eyes from Scooby Doo,
The trees full of fake neon green spider web,
Our last Hallowe'en at the house.

My Brother
Pushed the Gun away
When they held him up
At Diamond Shamrock.

And went right back to work that night.

Watching Highlander all the time
Him in that sleeveless Kurgen tee
Princes of the Universe
He bought so much memorabilia
They sent us a free dirk.

My Brother,Conspiracy Theorist,
UFO enthusiast
(and Possible Abductee - you never know, right?)
Watching the ship fly bright and silent overhead
Neither he nor Mom reach for the camera.

My Brother saw the man walking
In the Hallway
And ran to the fron room. Only then
Did he realize
The man had no feet.

My Brother dreamed the future,
Was so lost when the dreams

stopped.

I told him maybe it meant
he got to choose from here.
We both guessed it.

I still can't believe.

At a Diner in Katy,
My Brother once got a
Cup labled
"Coffee, No Meat."
...
Maybe you had to be there.

My Brother,
In Cleveland
Bought Teddy Bears
And Hall of Fame Pins.
Made a wrong turn and we
Wound up in Indiana.

My Brother, always thinking of others.
My Brother, all too aware of the strength in his hands.

His Coat, iconic, is on the table now,
(He still wearing it, though)
The gloves, the boxcutters scattered around,
His Lowe's shirts (had like 50)
His torn shorts (more tear than cloth really)
My Brother
Honest to the point of hating liars,
Gifted with the tongue to spin flawless fables
Contradiction of the Warrior-Poet,

Archangel Namesake
Defender, Protector,
Lover, Stranger.
Allways rewritten.
Never the same.

This is my Brother,
Standing in the night,
Lighter-light outlining,
Black Coat and fingerless gloves,
Curly headed or bald,
Named for the Archangel,
Always my Hero
Superhero, my Brother,
Standing between the Dark
And those he loves.