One son is of the air;

one son is of the water.

They hug each other tight tight -

part wrestle -

brothers.

"I don't know

what we'd do

without you,"

one says

to the other.

Neither remembers

life before.

Of all the people we love,

sisters and brothers

are with us longest.

There's so much time

to make and break bonds.

Now they splash together

swing together

move through time and space

together

and I relax

knowing I don't have to be enough.

When I am wrong

when I am gone

when I am preoccupied

with my own living

(and their daddy is, too)

there is another being

with love wired into every cell

with every nerve attuned

with a shared history

almost as long as

their own

who will hold them

tight tight

and who knows

how to light

their matches.