Brother and Sister

Susan sits by an open window Remembering her brother It was during the sixties when it happened The exact date was May 8, 1966 They called the Sixties liberating A time when America accepted change But it wasn’t like that for everyone Her brother Stevie Was two years younger than she was The guys in school used to call him names Like sissy boy and ***** Saying if he got into trouble his sister would have to stick up for him. But Stevie was better Way better than the bullies at school. At home Susan and her brother Would move the living room coffee table Push the old couch back And then sing the old favorites In close harmony Songs about teenage love Like the sad love ballads by the Everly Brothers Or the Righteous Brothers The sadder the love song The more they liked it They would stand together Moving ever so slowly And sing those songs so loud And so close To each other’s face Over and over And then Stevie would whistle the ending While their parents Clapped and clapped And clapped. Then one late afternoon When Stevie didn’t come home from school The phone rang and rang With a strange incessant kind of ringing That jarred their mother It was someone from the school saying That horseplay got out of hand Then the police came A man in a suit spoke to father in the kitchen Whispering over the clouds of cigarette smoke Susan could barely hear his hoarse whisper Only things like “We‘re going to investigate this” And “I promise I’ll do what I can” Her family never did find out what happened to the investigation. Along the way Away from home Something peculiar happened to Susan She lost something of herself And would sit Staring out of the window Not seeing anything Just thinking of her brother. She still does it today Just staring Out to nowhere Every time she hears one of those old songs She feels that Stevie is still with her. Forgiveness is a long word For what happened a long time ago All Susan has are memories If she could just absorb them And put them in a little bottle And carry them around So whenever she started feeling down She’d open the bottle And all those good memories Would remind her just how special life is And Stevie would still be there Their bodies entwined Singing harmony She holding the last note He snapping his fingers Whistling the last sad tune. .