Brothers in arms
Bound by love unbreakable
Brotherly love stuck them together
Like crazy glue

The elder brother
A long suffering and gentle scapegoat
The whipping boy notwithstanding
His young brother's prankishness

The younger one, extravagant with the food rations
Blamed big brother for the untimely squander
Father chastised the whipping boy
Contending that he should know better
That his young brother should follow his lead

Big brother wore the stripes of shame though he deserved them not
Almost in tears he quizzed his young brother
Why he loved to condemn him so
I thought it was just a game he said

At the movie house, soon forgiven for the umpteenth time
The young one rode piggybacked -
A regular prank in cahoots with big brother
To portray a non-paying toddler
The young one's ticket money bought the popcorn

On the way back home past the sports club
The younger brother begged some tennis players
For chum change which they handed him through the wire mesh
The handout sufficed for pieces of ice for the brothers
Solicited from the ice-cream vendor

Brothers in arms they were
Inseparable from an age so tender
The bond remained strong even as they became men
Only death could undo them
They now rest in peace, mere strides apart.