did u ever have a sister?
losing a sibling versus losing a parent
we must be programmed to lose our parents
as a biological imperative that is
think about it
we spend our entire lives trying to break away
from our giants as my child clients called
them
it is in those first moments when u realize u can
control your hands that you slap them away or beat
them back or hack off a hand to be free
hey people i can do it myself +put a lock on the bathroom door fer chrissakes!
but siblings they’re an entirely different story sewn
into the fabric of your DNA your cellmates (one bro
mournful+captive peering out behind bars of his crib)
poor caged little minkey
u cannot surgically remove them like a bladder it’s u+them
against the giants sink or swim littermates are tattooed
no matter what they do to u
__
..did you ever have a sister? did you?
no but they’re all bitches..
(William Faulkner The Sound+The Fury 1929)
Summer 2020