If I had a sister
I would tell her of love returned and
love retracted
“What beautiful hair you have”
“What a kind, open mouth you have”
You will cry enough to fill bathtubs and most oceans
Salt water is salvation
Oceans are homes when homes can no longer be
I will love her so selflessly because parents do not know and I feared Septembers
once too
I will give her my wisdom with its cracks and its thorns
I will leave an open door
When I hear her sobbing and healing
and hurting
I will not ask
But I will listen
My dear sister
I will tell her of rain and how things must end
I will tell her the things I had to find the
hard way
The things I had to find the bruised skin, cracked bones, stranded, sour heart, pay phone way
I will never let my sister wind up in the darkness in a room with a door that
has no handle
I will never let my sister end up like me