No. 3 – Ties

They were in the

silent phase,

for the last month,

the brother and sister,

after the fight.

Neither remembered

the cause, just the words.

 

Sister was older

and keeper of rules.

She decided when

to talk again.

Brother waited in

sullen, angry,

silence.

 

Sister got a letter,

an admission to college,

800 miles away.

She’d be gone

in two days.

Something cracked inside

brother.

 

He rode his cycle

for one hour.

100-degree heat,

on a summer Madras day.

Moore Market sold

second-hand books

all he could afford.

 

Pouring with sweat and breathless,

muttered for the train

and gave to sister.

She looked at the tattered book

her favorite author,

and muttered in turn.

Teenage siblings

do not hug.

 

On the 24-hour

train ride,

she cried each time,

she opened the book.