The Two Sisters

I walk ahead fast, I know she can’t keep up,

I hear her breathing hard, small feet pattering on the sidewalk.

She fumbles with her school bag, I hear her sob,

I still don’t turn around, the devil in me wanting to mock.

To mock my little sister when she looks at me for help,

To shove her away when I see her eyes mirroring disappointment.

My father said, you are the elder sister, the little one you must protect.

My mother said, this little one is my tool for your father’s atonement.

My sister follows me to the playground, my friends start to jeer,

She reaches for my hand, I turn around and say roughly, stay here.

I run and join my friends in their games, she stands there alone.

Eyes watching, lips quivering, hair windswept, small and forlorn.

After  a while, I drag my feet homewards, I know there will be hell to pay.

Abandoning her to the mercy of the cruel, I know she will betray.

But from a distance I see a small figure sitting under the tree.

Drawing lines in the mud, nose running, a small bruise on her knee.

I go and stand beside her, she looks up at me.

I look at her with new eyes, how did I not see?

I hold out my hand to her, she keeps looking.

I bend down and smile at her, she accepts my apology.

She grabs my hand and wipes my tears,

Together we skip back home, together we will face all our fears.

Reviews

[emmajoy]

' She grabs my hand and wipes my tears, - Together we skip back home .. ''

This contains so many facets.. the unkindness, the knowing of it; the description of a young child and - yourself, somehow veiled, perhaps by a hidden guilt. You use a mix of comfortable free verse and meter that reads so well .. and, your ending is one to be proud of.. fact or fiction...

[DrAnuradha Bele]

Thank you very much for your review! Yes, all emotions that you have pointed at were there when I was writing this and most of it is fact. Elder siblings can be quite cruel I'm afraid, knowingly or otherwise.

[Peter Rogerson]

This resonates in so many ways to things I've seen in the world, especially a mother who used to walk across a local park taking her very small daughter to school and always managing to leave the child struggling in her wake. I wondered what was in her mind, what tortured thoughts, what bitter arguments at home. The thing is, you can see and not see at the same time. We are all icebergs with most of us lost to sight.

[DrAnuradha Bele]

True. Thank you for your review.

[hcarson]

wow another amazing poem. i found this one paricularly poignent, i'm the youngest and have five kids so four that has been wherre this little sister is. so sad. i just wanted to jump in and scoop that little one up...excellent.

[DrAnuradha Bele]

Thank you very much for your kind words. Its with a bit of trepidation that I posted this. Your encouragement makes me feel better!