For an Ex-Brother-In-Law RIP

Jim,

You disinherited a son
some thirty years ago and now
you’re spent. Of course, your own folks left
you every night for alcohol
dependency, returning next
morning like clockwork lunacy.
What permanent catastrophe
that caused on you and yours, who knows?

I know we were the jellyfish
patrol that summer afternoon
and walked the edges of the shore
in search of nebulous assailants,
making the beach secure for one
and all. And it’s unfortunate
no such protection scans the thresholds
to our own deep. And guards your sleep.

~Greg Perry 2006