Brothers

I've had two brothers, neither related
To me or each other in any fashion.
One shy, retreating from sparse assemblies,
The second, exuberant beyond belief.
Both cheerful and droll and optimistic,
Traits my acid could not dissolve.
The first dropped out of my life without notice:
Thinking that he had been superseded
In a transient phase of my intimacies,
He bowed out gracefully, not leaving behind
A shard of rancor or bitter epistle.
The latter is easing into the distance
As I compose this; he has obligations
Larger in scope than our comedy act,
So the partnership must be disbanded.
He reiterates the hope that I
Might follow him to a southern state,
But that's unlikely; conditions there
Are dreadful, howsoever one views them,
Through either climatic or cultural lenses.
I'll remain behind, alone, unbrothered,
Bothered by trivialities
That my comrades above would make light of
In such ways close friends infuse with love.