[p o e t r y]

My Little Brother Left For College

No one tells you
That when you grow up
Your brothers grow up too

One day
You're in college
And you can taste the freedom
You have your own dorm room
You're out till 2am
And you're still coming home
For Christmas break

And the next day
Your brother is a freshman
And he's leaving for college
And you're the one
At home
After he's gone
Sitting in ya'll room
Surrounded by his decorations
Wondering where the years went

Wondering when
We went from kids catching tadpoles
And making potions
To college students
Fighting mental battles
Studying long hours
Dating and losing and dating again
Trying to find future spouses
To make our own futures and families with

I swear we were picking mulberries
And dissecting tadpoles
On marble benches
Just yesterday
Just yesterday,
You had a YouTube channel
And you were smarter than me
With your card tricks
And string ladders
You had buckteeth
And short spiky hair

Now you're in college

You're still smarter than me,
Even if only academically,
And nowadays
You do still have a hint
Of that short spiky hair
But suddenly you're 18

And somehow
You're more my peer
And my little brother
Than you ever have been

I can't keep you
Young and dissecting tadpoles
And I can't protect you
From losing the girl you loved
But I can love you
From our childhood home
As you move off to college
And I can pray
That when you do find a girl,
To marry,
And to start a new family with,
That she is worth loving
And that you are the man worth loving for her

Still,
I wonder,
When did you grow up too?

01/09/23