My brother was birthed a soft whistle

Posted on by Live & Learn

Although Twin is older by almost an hour—
of course the birth got complicated when it was my turn—
he doesn’t act older. He is years softer than I will ever be.

When we were little, I would come home
with bleeding knuckles and Mami would gasp
and shake me: “¡Muchacha, siempre peleando!
Why can’t you be a lady? Or like your brother?
He never fights. This is not God’s way.”

And Twin’s eyes would meet mine
across the room. I never told her
he didn’t fight because my hands
became fists for him. My hands learned
how to bleed when other kids
tried to make him into a wound.

My brother was birthed a soft whistle:
quiet, barely stirring the air, a gentle sound.
But I was born all the hurricane he needed
to lift—and drop—those that hurt him to the ground.

~ Elizabeth Acevedo, “More about Twin” in The Poet X (HarperTeen, March 6, 2018)

The Poet X, highly recommended.

 

Notes:

  • Elizabeth Acevedo is a Dominican-American poet and author.  Her critically-acclaimed debut novel and NY Times Bestseller, The Poet X, won the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
  • Portrait of Elizabeth Acevedo via wbur.com

31 thoughts on “My brother was birthed a soft whistle”

  2. OMG, what a hurricane of a writer. She sure paints not with a brush but with clouds, fire and compassion.

    Another keeper (in my mind). Thanks for sharing her.

    1. She sure is. Here’s another:

      I once watched my father peel an orange
      without once removing the knife from the fruit.
      He just turned and turned and turned it like a globe
      being skinned. The orange peel becoming a curl,
      the inside exposed and bleeding. How easily he separated
      everything that protected the fruit and then passed the bowl
      to my mother, dropping that skin to the floor
      while the inside burst between her teeth.

      ~ Elizabeth Acevedo, “Things You Think While You’re Kneeling on Rice That Have Nothing to Do with Repentance:” in The Poet X (HarperTeen, March 6, 2018)

      1. Goodness me; I can just taste the juicy orange – its soft, perky, flesh & slightly zingy, slightly sugary elixir exploding in my mouth…. This Elizabeth, she is SO very good.

        1. Late into the night I write and
          the pages of my notebook swell
          from all the words I’ve pressed onto them.
          It almost feels like
          the more I bruise the page
          the quicker something inside me heals.

          ~ Elizabeth Acevedo, “from All the Way Hype” in The Poet X (HarperTeen, March 6, 2018)

  6. Thank you for this morning blessing of words soft as the snow falling outside my window. They hit me as clear as a fist punching into the air on a cry of, “He’s not heavy. He’s my brother.”

    She just rendered my heart soft and you and your brother are in my thoughts.

          1. Thank you.

            For turning on the waterworks this morning, 🙂 and for the warm, gentle touch of memory. My brother was 49 when life became a burden too heavy for him to carry. When I referred to the song yesterday, I was immersed in the beauty of the poetry you’d shared. This morning, I am awash in memories of my brother — a beautiful gift on this soft morning. Thank you.

    2. Louise, that’s one of my favourite quotes and songs too!!! And I also think of the bible quote of the ‘I have been left all alone. You (God) have forgotten me when I needed you most.’
      But no! That was when the one set of foot prints was God’s and the guy was getting carried by God…. (well, that’s not a very good résumé but you know what I mean!).
      And it’s always crazily moving how words, a song, a few cited lines can trigger so much more than ‘just’ a quick read…. David and you and all those who comment (or not) prove this day after day.

  9. My sister’s twins are girl and boy and Kellie to this day defends her “little” brother Shane, though they are 26 years old…Plus, he’s on the spectrum so she is fierce to his gentle.
    Thank you for sharing this fabulous poet. I think I needs must add her to my bookshelf – not the kindle version.
    We find the words to help us deal with our real life, don’t we? Hugs to you and Brother.

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