Short Pants
My brother was in short pants then
Although he won't admit it
To hear him tell
He'd never been a boy always a man.
We'd roam the hills to shoot at birds
With sling shots made from branches
We'd catch at some
To roast on sandy gully floors
Over fire made from twigs.
My brother was in short pants then.
Come mango time we'd pick and eat
And eat all we could hold
Mama never said a word
She'd always let us do it
He'd save the nuts from cashew trees
In gallon kerosene tins
The feast we had on roasting day
Precluded eating dinner
How he would scream And hit at me
For eating and not saving.
My brother was in short pants then.
He'd fetch the wood to build the fire
The fire for cooking dinner
He'd make two bundles of the twigs
One for him a smaller one for me
We'd balance them upon our heads
A gift to show
Our day away
Had not been only fun
My brother was in short pants then.
They shamed him for his slowness
In mastering the skills
The reading and the writing
The sums left unfulled
They never gave a single thought
To all that he'd accomplish
Outside from books away from school
The structures he'd define
He did the things a man should do
And buildand build all day
His hands would carve
And hammer and nail
And plaster all kinds of clay
My brother was in short pants then
Although he won't admit it
To hear him tell
He'd never been a boy always a man.
I was so proud to be his friend
He never seem to mind
My being along among his crowd
The only girl around
Meddling in the games they played
Messing up the scores
He was the driver of the bus
And I the only fare
The tree limb crashed
I tore my leg
But somehow didn't care
Because my brother was there.
My brother was in shortpants then
Although I won't admit it
To hear me tell
He'd always been a man.
My brother's Photo: it was the only photo of a family member we had during my childhood
Somehow it was damaged.
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