My Brother

My Brother

He was an island of calm in an ocean of discontents

Taciturn and internal, sometimes frustratingly so

small talk wasn’t his thing, just the facts please

He needed respite from the voluble and talkative

And had no need for petty gossip

Or meanderings of thought

Or trailing sentences

The things that most of us leaven our conversation with

He carried the weight of his life in a solitary way

And lead our family through the difficult transitions

Parrying with the doctors at our Mom’s sickbed

And dispensing common sense as our Dad’s health failed

He raised a family and brought bread to the table

He did all of this with dignity and no complaint

With an almost Buddhist sense of equanimity

Although I’m sure he would scoff at that description as too much

As life was, in his world, as it was, the give and take of it

The trials and successes all part of the game

He expected no special favors or circumstances

And chopped his wood and carried his water with resolution

I’ll miss his steady hand and brilliance of mind

I would say gone too soon,

But I imagine he would say, it is what it is, it is what it is.

-Joe