Beloved brother
My comrade, my mentor
You see so much in me
That I do not see
Within myself
And you believed
In me when no one
Ever did,
When the road was rough
And the tunnel long
And arduous…
Dark, dense, humid
You taught me the power
Of love and unity
You showed me the tenderness
Of compassion
You made me a brave warrior
Trekking the thorny path
Being unafraid to fail,
To succeed, in the final analysis
There is a flower of hope in your eyes
In your heart there can never be lies
I can have no better friend than you
No better champion than you
Knight in shining armor,
When the days seem endless
And the nights, raven black
Together we weathered the storm
Together we braved the unrelenting
Torrents of rain, in this world war
Called life
There are no words to thank you
And as a poet
I now stand without words
For you are the words to this poem
You are the lyric of my songs
as we travel towards the end,
Of our hard won race,
As we lie below the grasses,
Beside our revered ancestors,
It will be an honor
To mark my tombstone
That I was she who had
A beloved brother
A comrade
A mentor
And  the most precious
Gift of a friend
Called
My beloved brother