My mom was a drug addict
there was never anything to eat,
and when there was, there was no one to make it
My brother stepped up, cooked us dinner one night
he was five and I was four
he made us toaster strudels and grape popsicles
he had to push a chair to the microwave to reach
and we ate off the floor that night,
but we were happy.
we would take cereal from the mostly bare pantry
and bring it to our room to hide it
in case no one brought home food
My brother is my savior, my one and only protector
We were taken from our mother and placed into a foster home, where they later adopted us. Due to emotional stress caused by the foster mother, me and my brother learned to hate each other, and got each other in trouble with her to survive. We've recently taught ourselves how to forgive each other and have begun talking about everything. This poem is a tribute to him and a reminder that he was always there for me when no adults were. Thank you Shawn and I love you so so so much.