two brothers playing on monkey bars
but their faces are sullen,
russell stays on the swings
while on the sand uki strays far,
they hear the chattering of others
the younger wants to join them:
uki makes moves to run;
but russell wants to stay together
without a word, russell swings his fist
and catches his brother as he ran
pins him to the sand,
ignoring his screams as he twists
on the periphery are those other boys
they stand, horrified expressions
on their faces as they shout encouragement.
as they watch, all they give is their voice.
but what are empty words, uki thinks:
what are motivational speeches
when i’m here punching back
while they stand there watching me sink
oh brother, how could you bear to hurt
a face that looks so much like yours
pretend not to hear my cries
when you speak the same words
lyubov: love in ukranian
Comments