Brother

In a peaceful valley

Contradictory caustic chronicle

Innumerable years of naught

Vultures mark the spot

Vengeful young hover

Elders perch, peck, hunch

Barren eyes follow

Generation after generation

They keep coming back

Constant flow of marrow

Crimson drops

On rusted barbed wire

Hopeless bones

Lay naked in golden grass

It’s a jail of sorts

Hidden in the forest

You never really leave

No

Not without scars

And arms heavy

With broken hearts

Now

No one can save you

Morbidity built bars

Destroy beautiful boy

Luck doesn’t exist

Stick the knife in

Twist

Death emulates childhood

/dad wasn’t very nice to me when I was a kid/

Words unworthy of waiting

But worth the weight

Shadows cough, snore, rasp

Through the door

On the right

Just down the hall

All mine now

In the house

Without a home

Sun went down

Took all the color and

You, brother

Whispering prayers

Shuddering wings

Resurrect dust

Settles in my chest

Cementing image of

Your pallid face and

Quiet hands of grace

 

(Image by Elicia Edijanto)