Connected

Sitting in this classroom

Waiting for the speeches

This club meeting isn’t like the others

In an unfamiliar room with three unfamiliar people

I wait to hear their life story

The ones that will remind me of my brother

For my brother and them are connected

Woven together by

the holes and scars

on their body

Connected by the pain they have suffered

By the endless hospital visits

I planned my future in order to help those

who are

connected

My plans have not derailed but they have gotten more opaque

The hospital has become like a  second home

To me,

And I have gotten use to explaining my brother’s

Condition

It isn’t as painful now as it was

So many years ago.

Everything has become so commonplace

And with that the fight I once had

Died a little.

As I listen to the people standing in front of me

Whose stories sting my soul

I think of my plans.

I soak up every word being spoken

The future doesn’t seem so far

My help doesn’t seem so hopeless

As the last person sits down

Everyone in the room applause

Their stories have awoken my passion once again

Their stories have moved me

With their stories in mind

My future plans are again in reach

I vow to help those

who are

connected