Brothers

one day
1932
my dad was born in
northeast Ohio
one day
1941
his oldest brother Lenny went to war
and their mother waited every day
for the mail at the door
but he lost that brother in Pearl Harbor and
still the mother
put a gold star in the window and waited
and waited
for him to come home but he
never ever ever ever showed
and my dad
he's still around
he's 80 years old and
he's never ever left that town
one day
1989
his brother Billy got bad news
really bad news
and my dad would
visit him from time to time
keep him company, help the family bring him food and other things
that Billy liked
and as it all turned out
he lost that brother to pancreatic cancer
and my uncle's remembered as a hard worker and a good family man
and my dad
he's still kickin' round
that old broken down
steel mill town
and my dad
I still go see
and we talk til late at night
and we sit around and watch TV
one day
late 2012
his brother Bobby wasn't feeling too well
he wasn't feeling too well
there wasn't much
much that could be done
failing health at the age of 81
and as it went he lost
his last brother to natural causes that winter
and my uncle Bobby's remembered as a charming and funny man
and my dad
he is still around
and I'll miss him like hell
when I can no longer hear the sound
of his voice giving me advice and
tellin' me the latest news
when we can't sit around and watch old reruns
in his living room