"tan duro, la vida"

Visited my brother today
Little have I slept tonight
thinking of his swollen eye lids
giving away the pain, the sorrow
for now they see life’s waning days

He sleeps even less than myself
His eyes remain open when others sleep
Recently his eyes didn’t wake
and his wife, with tearful eyes
did violently, his body shake

Sometimes his body forgets to awaken
It grapples every day with infirmed pain
His digestive track no longer in his control
medicinals prescribed are experimental
his liver, kidneys and white blood cells
have forgotten to function in balance

His eyes now stare back at me
Much the same that Mother’s did
When for many days and years
She would speak the words
“ tan duro, la vida “
distractions of youth did not allow
my ears to hear and understand

Now that my own body has taken life’s blows
with prosthetic hips and unkempt broken bones
my ears manicured from hair now grown
Staring into his eyes if I dare
Mother’s words I now compare
diurnal tug at life’s hairline strings
Upon my now also swollen eyes
Reflecting my little sleep