I was exercising today
When your call came in,
Headphones kept me from hearing the ring;
But because we spoke
Just yesterday,
Please forgive me
If I couldn’t do it again.

The conversations that we have
Are so vacant;
So full of drunkenness
And lies,
Whatever happened to just being brothers,
And treasuring
Our fraternal ties?

What was once just the fun that we had,
Is so venomous in this present day,
Your life is on the line
I must tell you,
And you are beyond my ability
To save.

My soul aches for the brother I knew,
The one who could see beyond
His own selfish needs,
You are now just a shell,
Of the man we knew,
Who stands unconcerned
While the rest of us bleed.

I remember the holidays
With your absence conspicuous,
Our mother overcome with tears,
And all that has changed,
With your disregard,
Has been the passage
Of the intervening years.

For this day
My prayers are done,
More heartfelt they could never be,
But no alternative exists
In our hearts so aggrieved,
Until you decide
To set yourself free.