the platitudes of willful resemblance

A good, longtime, friend of mine sent this photo to me – taken from his cellphone. I am in love with it. I haven’t seen my friend in nearly a decade, he smartly left Illinois and has made a life for himself by greater beaches – I’d known him since we were both small, both naive, both hungering for a greater tomorrow and freedom. I think of him often, without heartbreak, as ours is an unspoken commitment of kinship.
This image is from the younger brother I never had. and it’s poem is building within me as we speak…