A Poem for a Monday Evening in Valencia: “Big Brother”

(Royalty-free photo, unknown owner)

I’m just a tiny speck of light, an angel some may have considered me, or perhaps they still do…

I’m just a little boy sitting on the railroad tracks,

turning to the cold, damp air, my back,

looking, I think, like many others

and waiting for big brother I have breathed my last…

A hole was all I had, it was my home, I made it from dark corners so that no one else could see I was alone…

My skin was melting fast beneath the red-hot angered leather,

and my ears were shattered by most angry screams,

my tears blurred out my eyes,

and reddened the sky that shed its rain above me,

a rain of painful blows and crooked smiles.

Then, instead of running off to school, when morning came,

I floated on a wisp of wild emotion,

I looked beneath me and saw birds,

they too could fly!

I rested on the tracks, so distant, lonely

I rested until finally inside,

a brightened light seemed far too sweet and closely,

I could see him, my brother dancing above clouds that filled the sky.

With open arms he welcomed me and loved me

and finally I was allowed to smile…

C.2020, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 30 NOV 2020, Valencia, Spain