The Smart Bomb                                               


            My brother frequently picked on me

            Last week he even ditched me with his friends,
            All older by several years, 
            And I waited an hour at the park
            For nothing

            I wanted the chance to get even with him,
            Maybe even to tell my parents
            That he was seeing some girl
            All those afternoons he said 
            He was doing extra credit at school –
            If I really got mad, that is

            But I never did
            Because he, my brother,
            Played cards with me and laughed a lot 
            And taught me football and made sure 
            Nobody ever pushed me around
            Except him

            Yesterday morning he shared his porridge
            With me even though he was hungrier, and bigger

            Naturally I wanted to kill him
            A hundred times a day for teasing

            But not the way the smart bomb did

            They told me it was a smart bomb
            That made a mistake

            I wonder whoever made it so smart,
            Somebody a million miles away,
            Did he have a brother
            Who put a hand on his shoulder to squeeze it
            As they walked home from school
            For no reason at all

            My parents couldn’t answer that question,
            My parents, I can hardly recognise them 

            We’ve been ditched but there’s not even 
            Waiting


            ________________________________________________________________________


            Emanuel E. García, 2014

          published in Truthout