Oh, My Brother (for Dave)

It is hard for me to imagine,

my brother, what you have

been through, the failing

kidneys at first, one removed

due to cancer then eventually

the weakening other, and

dialysis to keep it functioning.

You held on until a donor

provided an extension of life

for you. Then there was the

ailing arteries to the heart,

and quadruple bypass with

which to contend. And with

that fighting spirit, you man-

aged to pull through.

But that was only the begin-

ning for you.

Eventually, the cancers reap-

peared—skin, lungs, esopha-

geal and who in hell knows

where else? Seems to me you

were the unfortunate brother

who inherited those conditions

from mother’s side of the fam-

ily. Damn those Deichmann

familial traits anyway!

Ah but, as they say, the piper

must be paid.

For me, it is the depression,

addiction and anger genes

passed on to me unwittingly

from our father’s side. Oh

well, I suppose something

has to get us all in the end.

Sure is a hell of ride, all the

shit to muddle through some-

times in order to survive.

Years ago in the movie, All

About Eve, Betty Davis

warned, “Fasten your seat

belts, it’s going to be a bumpy

night.” And she was partly right.

I believe, however, that Little

Orphan Annie nailed it more

succinctly for folks like you

and me when she sang…

It’s a Hard Knock Life. Painful

as it may be, let me hum a few

bars of that for you.

Chris Hanch 12-12-18