Big Brother
Red hair and freckles.
Horsie-back rides.
The six foot long scarf you knit one winter,
bright red with white stripes at the ends.
The long waits for the school bus in the cold
and the day you made a fire to keep us warm.
The way you covered letters on the mailbox
with mittened hands and
changed James Carroll’s name into
‘Jam roll’.
A big brother is an anchor,
a deep well of comfort in the middle
of a life.
#349
Linda Studley 