My Baby Brother

Yesterday was my brother's birthday;
What he meant to me
Was a precious baby brother;
That's not all he was meant to be.

He was a world-class hugger;
This turned out to be a shame,
Because so many women
Treated it as a game.

My beautiful brother was betrayed by friends,
Women and men alike.
He took to hiding in drugs;
His misery continued to spike.

My brother's faith in relationships
Had been so diverted
By the hypocrisy of authority,
Which, the powerful, had perverted.

He looked for mentors in older men,
But they led him further astray.
I wish these people were still around
To accept the hurt they lay.

My brother is long since dead,
But his memory lives on in me.
When I look into my husband's face,
My brother's love is some of what I see.

I am blessed to share life with a man
As huggable as my baby brother;
I only wish that more people
Didn't, their affections, cover.