What Sisters Do Poem by Anne Marie V. Kennedy

In the pitch dead of night
Sleep eludes me again

My head pounding, my heart racing
As I wonder what, where, and when?

I cannot stop the madness
That creeps inside my soul
Just like I could not halt your descent
Into your own private hole

Where you would allow no one
No matter how hard they tried
You couldn’t give up the secret
You guarded it with your life

You couldn’t help the voices
Or the eruption in your brain
You hid it so very well, you did
We could not begin to glimpse your pain

The torture you must have endured
That continues ‘till this day
Was too much to speak of, I’m sure
As I watched my brother go away

I know it’s not forever
And I believe it’s not the end
You are my brilliant soul-twin
Nothing can ever change my Sven

I would cut off my right arm for you
If I hadn’t done so already
I am bleeding from the wound
Cold, hard, and steady

My heart has, too, been punctured
I bleed from every pore
I pray to God my Jesus
Please—No more! No more!

And then I pray to Mary
Mother of our Sins
I see her crying teardrops
That seem neither to end nor to begin

If I could make the sunlight
Shine into your night
I would surely do it
If it could restore your sight

If I could stop the thunder
And cease the raging storms
I would in an instant
To see your soul reborn

To take away your sadness
Your confusion and despair
There is nothing I would not do
No burden I would not bear

Your sister I am always
Standing by your side
No matter what the day brings
Through every shifting tide

You are my baby brother
So innocent and true
How I pine for the fulfillment
Of your dreams both old and new

Your mind is playing tricks
That no one can explain
But you are still my brother
Pure, unspoiled, unstained

If you do not believe this
I will help you through
For your hardship is my hardship
And that’s what sisters do.