SISTERS

You made your presence felt,

Twenty minutes ahead of me.

I had the greater difficulty

As my exit was blocked with a melt of

Entangled umbilical and placenta spent.

Despite my later arrival

And my critical but brief

Oxygen deprival

I made my presence felt.

Our mother laid us both on her weary breast,

Feeling our little bodies rise and fall

With each gasping breath

And there we made our first bond.

You are my sister, and that you will always be.

I love you as much as life itself,

But I will never understand why

You always must deny

The equality that we share

But needs to compare

And pontificate to all and sundry

The deficiencies you see in me.

You were the pretty one, the one so fair.

The girl with the light green eyes

And curly long hair.

But I was the one who made everyone stare

My hair was nappy

And my teeth were crooked.

My body pear shaped

And my gait flat-footed.

Every game we played,

The other girls called you first.

You were always the centre of attention

And I felt like your curse.

But you are my sister, and I love you.

A time will come when the pretty baubles

And the fancy jewels

Are no longer worn by you.

Your beauty will fade

And your hair will thin and then,

What you have left

Is all that you have nourished within.

I will still love you.

Here I stand in your shadow

I cannot come clear.

I try to share, how I feel about

Your lack of care of my presence and my desires.

But to say this to you

I cower in fear.

But, Sister I must now let you know

That it all was a show.

When our lives finally stall

And we take our last call,

The truth is the star

And the way that you are

Was entirely encouraged

By me.

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Photography by

DeOlivere Greenidge

copyright 2009