Against sunset colors
my brother glows green -
a taller me with lighter hair
same brow, same mouth
sucking in the weather like
an invitation
‘Mom, Zach’s touching me.’
Now I’m wearing sunglasses
in the bathtub, drunk on a bottle of wine
and smoking cigarettes
and my brother is in the other room
fucking his girlfriend
listening to Ohio
as if it were a song
and the world were flat again
and Lake Eerie was the end of it.
My brother
taps out morse code
on the wall,
battle plans for some imaginary
holy war.His skin
is moist with sweat.
He forgets that
there is no such thing as a level
playing field.
