John Wayne

With tears in his eyes,
he exclaimed, "this man was not my brother."
this man, for the last year, was an imposter.
his brother died the year before.
when his wife left him. when he lost his job.
when he stopped caring. when he drank.
in a way, his brother committed suicide.
and then someone else lived in his body for another year.
inhabiting it as a crab inhabits a seashell.
being washed away in the tide.
this man thought he was John Wayne.
a desperado, a rebel.
no longer a father and a lawyer.
He became what he once defended.
and could not defend himself.
and the sweetest song can not replace.
the pain my father feels. waiting in line
to say goodbye to his brother.
the imposter.
he had been to Hell for his brother the year before.
My father spent a lot of time being mad at him.
because he loved him.
and the pain set in when he realized he had nothing to be mad at anymore.
His little brother is now dead.
and He wasn't John Wayne.