Brothers;
Their love comes from where the wild things are.
Crashing and bashing its way out of the woods
towards curl-tugging, nose-grabbing,
chasing, embracing,
growling kisses.
Dancing the bedtime blues
they sway and pray
for more time
free of the confines of 4 posters and a set of sheets.
When granted a reprieve
it’s wrenchingly beautiful
to see them pause between bouts of bedlam
and hug the guts out of each other.
Sheer celebration and wrangling
one another
is what they do best
be it on the floor, bed, driveway or lawn.
We are never bored.
There’s too much to explore, crush, challenge and duel
too much energy
pure rocket fuel
brother love, that is.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I like this one better because I can really see you reciting this, decked out in black… with a beret. *snap snap snap*
I have never owned a beret in my life.
Very cool. I have 3 brothers (no sisters) … I can see us in your words.
Thanks – there certainly is a wild and untamed energy about boys. Your mom must have some tall tales to tell after surviving 4!
Oh.. I am sure she does. There is only 4 and half years difference from the oldest to the youngest. My guess is that her blindness kept her from having a heart attack because if she could have seen half the things we got into, there is no doubt her heart would have given out.
By the way.. I had a friend that I worked with who was from South Africa. Do you know what a Parktown Prawn is?
Ha! Parktown prawns – the biggest, juiciest cockroaches known to man!
I love this way of seeing brother-love. I have 8 great nephews—they rough and tumble and love it…and love each other with all they have. A lot of people want to tame this right out of boys. Thanks for delighting in it and letting it dance and tumble through your words. ‘Enjoyed it very much!
Thanks so much! I think there is a good reason that “Where the Wild Things Are” resonates so powerfully with boys – because each of them has a little wild man in their souls that needs to strutt and yell and slay monsters as much as it needs to be polite. Finding the balance is the tricky part; but somedays it works out just right when they rush into the kitchen with swords and helmets at the ready and then politely asd, “you need to be rescued, mama?”