Lou 

stars crinkle under our feet

bouncing off the blades of moonlit grass

carried downstream in the canal behind

my house

I walk down memory lane with my brother Lou

Lou lost it in his teens diagnosed schizoid

but able to function under guidance and meds

together we lug a cumbersome old wooden box

to the trash

gently I quizzed him

“do you remember us when we were little

on our sled all the snow and fun we had?”

Lou stares blankly into the night,

“I was never small, I was made 6 ft. 3 in.”

“but I have a photo of us”

again Lou denies that such a time ever existed,

insisting that he sprang full-grown

from the mind of some unknown madness

Christmas lights blink coloring his face

red then green

“That's alright Lou, I remember....”

whispering goodnight

I tuck Lou under the blankets

of my heart

and watch him trudge away

a small boy in a gray snowsuit

“Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you”

(Simon & Garfunkle, 1968)