(no subject)

HE SAID...

My brother called last night.
My younger brother,
who has become
my older brother.

He didn’t intend to hurt me,
but he thought I should know
how I am being perceived in the family;
what is being said.

In this family
validation comes only through
who you are married to
and what you own.

Sources of pride to me --
theatre, travel, the romance of living --
are sources of embarrassment to them.
Indicators of a perennially suspected insanity.

They don’t understand
why I have not, and will not,
enter into some loveless marriage of convenience
as they each have.

“Marry anyone,” he implored.
“Why is love so damn important to you?
There are more important reasons
to marry.”

No.
There is no other reason, for me.
I tell him so,
and thus I continue as persona non grata.

My head hurts.
But it's only the beginning.