I had come quite a ways to visit him
Or visiting him was part of the festivities
Lots of other people around
Familiar and unfamiliar
It didn’t occur to either of us
That this might be the last
His dark hair and beard now gray
Not fully but sufficiently
To alter his appearance after a long absence
He looked like dusty death
Smaller than I remembered
My older brother after all
Sunglasses as usual
But sadness visible in his eyes
That always wore a taint of sadness
Or perhaps I saw what I expected to see
And resentment that those he loved
Or was bound to at least
Had disappointed had betrayed him
And I feared that I numbered among that throng
And he was right to feel let down
All are mortal and incomplete
All recover too slowly for life
I said hi and then we said goodbye