My older brother,
on the computer,
playing games.
I walk over with a question
and a little bit of hope and pride.
“Do you want to see a picture I drew?
It’s in my room.”
He pauses the game for me,
and follows me up.
I show him the picture I spent hours over,
drawing and redrawing the chin
to get it just right.
He smiles and says,
“I love it. It’s great. Good job.”
Then he goes back downstairs.
He thinks it’s just a compliment,
but he hasn’t taken time out of his life
to say something like that to me
for a long time.
He thinks it’s just a compliment,
but it means the world to me.