Robert A. Brown

MY BROTHER

We are brothers,
Tho' I may not have known you
Nay, not even your name

We got stuck in the same mud
Ate the same dust
Were pounded by the same rain

We climbed the same hill
Humped the same jungle
We walked the same dike

We had the same weary, wary life by day,
Slept the same restless sleep at night.

Brother is the word we use
To try to explain
The close bond that we have

For closer than a brother we are
Born in the life we lived,
Born in the life you gave

We may not have had
The chance to say, “Good bye.”
It’s hard for me now,
Forgive the tears I cry

Tho’ you may not be standing with me here now
You were standing with me then.
You will always be standing
With me in my memory.

Your Brother