Hindsight

When our father died,
My brother was 4,
To the viewing
He wore a batman costume:
Cape, mask, and all.
So, that he could fly up to the heavens.

Our mother dies.
He’s 26,
He wears a different kind of cape:
White shirt, black tie
Shoulders back, head high,
Standing in the same room.

Oh, the relief it would be
To give him back his innocence,
To lift the weight of grief.
He is so strong,
He and I against the world,
I would carry it all for him.

So, that he could learn to fly again.