Same Same, But Different

As I marvel at my brothers taking wing, each resplendent in his own plumage, poems by this older sister strike a resonate chord...

Brother

You jaywalked your way out of the womb.
I would recognize you anywhere 

by the hiccup in your swagger. Tell me, 

where in the world did you find all that thunder?

There have never been any seat belts on your side of the car.
You have always known the better magic tricks.
You told me once that I was just the first draft, 

and I’m inclined to believe you, but you came 

with a lot more pieces to assemble and 

Mom​ and Dad never got the manual.

Your compass always points north. 

But it's a bit of a crapshoot as to whether or not 

you'll ever really walk in that direction. I like that. 

It keeps people on their toes.

On the merry-go-round of your life, the carousal ponies 

are all narwhals. Their horns point straight up.
The day they build you a constellation, it will be 

the entire F Train spread across the Milky Way.
You will be a satellite that dips in and out of every car 

the moment the train comes to a stop, pissing off 

everybody on the subway platform, and kicking up 

stardust in your wake. You can solve a Law & Order 

episode before the first commercial break.

Once, when you were seven, you came into the kitchen 

and asked Mom, Does my name begin with the letter P 

because P is the sixteenth letter of the alphabet and 

I was born on June sixteenth, and is Sarah just Sarah 
because S is nineteenth letter of the alphabet 
and she was born on the nineteenth day of June?

And when Mom said no, you nodded your head 

and left the room mumbling to yourself, 

Okay. Just salt and pepper then.

You are my favorite stick of dynamite.
You are the opposite of a rubber band.
There are so many things I would tell you 

if I thought that you would listen 

and so many more that you would tell me 

if you believed I would understand.

I hope you know that you were never meant to wear my shadow.
In fact, I’m the one who always steals your shoes. 

But is that my sweatshirt you’re wearing? 

It’s okay, you can keep it. I won't tell your secret.
In fact, it really does look better on you.