Kid Sister

Beth Israel Emergency Room.
It's funny how,
When someone is ill,
You forget about
All the everyday grievances
You normally hold against them.

Kid sister...
Mommie was always telling me
To look after you
(And she made me feel guilty
All the times that I didn't).
I was six
(Going on sixteen)
When you were born.

You were always different from me.
Different temperament.
Different interests.
Different ways of handling
The same familial stresses.
Different ideas
About how life ought to be lived.

We are not made
Of the same soulstuff,
And yet we are bound,
One to the other,
By familial ties
That El-Shaddai forged
Long before we were born.

Father,
Have mercy on me,
A sinner,
A being of dust and ashes
Trying to navigate
Through the life You have given me.
Hear me, my Lord,
And heal my kid sister,
Part of my family,
Part of me,
Through Your Divine Plan.
You touch us,
And we are healed.
Bless my sister
With that touch,
To the Praise and Glory
Of Your Ineffable Name...