Brother Do Not Say I Am Sorry Poem by RIC BASTASA

brother
now itis time for you to wear
my shirt
my shoes
my pants

i have outgrown them
and it is time
you wear them
for they fit
you

do not say

' i am sorry'

do not tell me
you will escape from the pattern of our tradition
you shall step
into my shoes into all that i have and own and you must fit in

that is the law that is the rule of our ancestry
and you shall not break it
until we all die
until you die yourself inside the coffin of our father

as i will, without so much complaining
so you must
in the name of our tradition