For My Brother

For My Brother

  

(The Codependent)

I am a master at putting others first,
a deceiver of my own senses

Headlight eyes blind my hunger;
genies grant 3 wishes,
whereas I try to grant dozens

I am a tree whose sap has all but
run dry from carrying apple orchards
on my back

I see dawn like it's a maze run by Loki,
tricking me into seeing how many people
I can please before I'm able to escape the exit

Sometimes I try to run sideways
to see if my shadow is still watching

Because I'm so enraptured
with other people's lives that
I'm afraid that even my shadow
has left me, as my black sunglass
memories of self care have

When I see you, I wonder
what I can do for you.

I wonder how I can possibly
fix this person, even though
in my honeysuckle veins,
I know that you are not broken

I use the lightning as a reminder
that every life is a crackling force
able to either fry me, or just to
stare in wonder at. Imperfect,
and yet able to handle the fall
from the sky

 

 

Adam Levon Brown

 

 

Adam Levon Brown is an internationally published poet and author in 14 countries. He has had his work translated in Spanish, Albanian and Afrikaans. Boasting upwards of 300 published pieces, you can find his writing at such publications as Burningword Literary Journal, Angel City Review, Firefly Magazine, Epigraph, Burning House Press and many more. He was longlisted in the 2017 Erbacce Prize poetry competition.