IF I HAD THE POWER
By Cathy Roberts
I am older than my brother
But he was born years before me.
Vietnam killed him when he was
Only eighteen.
I'm twenty-one.
Vietnam is killing my father.
It seems that having one
Of our family isn't enough
To a war long over.
If I had the power, I would turn back time
And beg my brother,
My beautiful, seventeen year old brother
To stay home.
If I had the power, I would convince my father that he did not kill his son.
If I had the power, I would be younger than my my brother.