Eleven Years Older Than Me

by James Babbs

I was still a teenager
when he died
when the police arrived
in the middle of the night
telling us about the accident
they stood in the doorway
between the kitchen and
the living room
my parents at the kitchen table
me sitting alone
at the bottom of the stairs
their words not really making any sense
but I kept listening to them
anyway
hearing something about my brother and
his car being in a wreck
somewhere near the candy factory
the dark curve in the road
later on
I learned about other things
the consumption of alcohol and
losing control
but none of it
made any difference
it didn’t change anything
I knew
my brother was still dead and
he wasn’t coming home