Cain and Abel

oh my brother
the flocks are bedded down for the evening,
the purple fingers of twilight caress across the fields,
the fire has been stoked and our cups are filled,
come talk to me for a moment while we pretend
that we are once again children who are concerned
yet unworried about the effects of the world upon our lives

for too long our differences have stood as a wailing wall
between us who are of the same blood,
for too long the bitter words have stuck in our throats
and raised the heat of passion in a line drawn across the sand

but perhaps that is to be expected when one perceives
a slight given by a father as favoritism to another
and we know full well that mankind searches for an excuse
through us to justify the sins they lay upon the world

i think often of our parents who were set free
by the doom of the knowledge of the consequence of their actions
and of the recognition that perhaps the memory of life
without shame was the only thing that ever separated them from us

i remember them as giants who strode across my universe,
now they seem much smaller yet in possession of a wisdom
that can only be branded on the heart through the acceptance
of the guilt and defeats that life has to offer,
for though i know that they are made of clay
i love them almost as gods who breathed life into my body

however, my brother, for tonight let such things pass,
the fire crackles with laughter and warms
the cold corners of a soul that is weary
from the battles that waged between us

i lean forward to kiss your forehead
so i may forget for an instant the mark that burns upon mine
as i watch my fingers tremble when they stretch to close the eyelids
that stare deep into some tomorrow that i cannot see


soon i will wrap myself in a blanket and lay beside you
who are the only the one who ever knew or understood
just how my angry silence could have driven me to this moment

tonight i will watch the stars for both of us

in the morning i shall be gone