Urban Sprawl Poem by Patti Masterman

I had a half sister named Arley Bell
I had a half brother named Perry Lee
She's dead now; murdered, dismembered
Counted among some serial killers claim to fame
And brother, in the psych hospital
Around the same time
But I don't know any more-

They had a different father
There were older brothers we shared too
And I found I had other sisters, raised by other families.
Growing up alone was a long, lonely affair
But as soon as I was done growing up
All these names began to pop up-
People I'd never met, have yet to meet-

And now that I'm old, we've grown even father apart
If possible: how can you join hands, minds
With people you never shared a childhood
Or a memory with; who never met your eyes
At the end of a death- or even a joke?

It now seems certain I will die
Never laying eyes on another living human
Who shares the same dna: hair, eyes, bone structure..
Except that my child is so much like me:
We're one soul in twin bodies
That it feels almost foolish to waste time
Wondering about the others.