The Surviving Twin
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Even now, he cannot stop his eyesfrom seeking, as a child does in the clouds,his own face among indifferent crowds:a mirror wearing nicer clothes, disguisedbut nonetheless himself in suit and tie,walking absently, his head boweduntil his brother waves and calls aloudhis name, he wakes, and grins in glad surprise.
No double self but one, he can't expresshow each successive day without his brotherhe's racked a little less by guilt and grief;how, being just himself and not another,he finds a pleasure in becoming less—how vanishing brings something like relief. [End Page 74]
Juliana Gray is the author of a poetry collection titled The Man Under My Skin. Her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in River Styx, 32 Poems, and Southern Humanities Review. She teaches English at Alfred University in western New York.
