Brothers
It’s an indisputable truth, the way he says it, the way he says anything
The oldest is much more
Serious, much more
Goal-oriented.
(Maybe confidence belongs to the oldest as well)
But Mitchell was way smarter, he muses, a much better athlete
They picked me second-to-last for pick-up baseball,
Not last because they knew I was Mitchell’s brother.
And when we took physics together in college because he'd caught up to me
Mitch was the genius who got 35% on the exam
(the rest of them only got 12)
California during his residency was a paradise to them
But I’d call home every Sunday, when Dad was sick,
Mom would say “Don’t worry, Mitchell cancelled his patients
To come be with us. Don’t worry, Mitchell bought a ladder to
Get up on the roof and repair the shingles!”
And then I knew it was time to come home.
(Best decision they ever made, he says)
She smiles next to him (eyes always twinkling), pats his shoulder playfully
I don't know if I'd say
They get along too well
But wow, they sure do love each other