There Was A Sibling Who Might Have
Preceded Me Into The World; I Say -Ë—he-‘
As I Had Three Sisters Waiting In The Wings
With Growing Impatience For A Male
Applicant To Bind With Fledgling Love;
-Ë—he-‘ As It Is Unthinkable Our Mother
May Have Conceived Another Girl.
I Was Told Of The Sad Miscarriage When
I Observed Disparity In Dates We Celebrated
Birthdays. The Gap Between My Next Sister
And I Was Our Brother Stillborn. It Was A Slow-
Growing Shock -— I Still Mourn For My Brother,
I Still Mourn For An Ally And Friend Whom I
Never Knew, Assured He Would Agree.
There Was A Sibling Who-‘d Have Preceded
Me And Made The World A Less Perilous
Place, A Brother Who-‘d Have Loved And
Protected Me But Never Was. And When I
Dreamed Of Him, Staunch And Beautiful With
Features Hewn From The Same Living Flesh,
He Was Me And My Sisters Never Knew