How Much More Trauma Must I Suffer, Dear Brother, How Many More Years? Poem by Dennis Ryan

Monday, July 11 and Friday, July 15,2022

How much more trauma must I suffer,
dear brother, how many more years,
how much more pain before you choose
to acknowledge it? "Be well", you tell me?
How much more physical pain must I suffer
before you show the least bit of sympathy,
a modicum of compassion, how much more,
and why do your silences echo in my ears?

When I asked why you have never acknowledged
my trauma, the pain and suffering, you told me
it's your habit to find solutions to problems—
that's what you do? —at which point I reminded
you I'm not your client, I'm your brother—
which made you bristle, become discordant.
But my response to your answer was, clearly,
the most obvious, most natural thing to say.