Brothers of the Head

A brotherly embrace
forever supporting one another
held together by the bond of blood,
a shared kidney, a network of veins and capillaries
and a four inch wide strap of flesh
just at the joint of hip and waist.
During arguments the bond seemed to vanish
until the pushing and shoving did nothing
but force them closer together.
Almost easy to forget they were joined
a stark contrast in personality
fools strangers into forgetting the physical bond.

It's easy to think the more dangerous of the two
was the one in your face,
the vulgar and violent one.
But sometimes its the quiet ones you have to watch out for.
Behind the brain of the vulgar one lay a dark mass
mistaken initially for a tumor,
revealed upon closer study to be the unformed fetus of a triplet
finally fulfilling their mother's fevered foresight dream
that three babies were growing within her
before she died
and they were removed prematurely.
She never saw them.

As quiet ones go, he seemed sweet,
often under the vulgar one's thumb,
he appeared dominated and scared.
Until he snapped.
No one knows for sure what happened except them
and they certainly aren't speaking on the matter.
Brain injury following head trauma
turned the vulgar one incoherent.
Like children they pleaded to be taken home by their sister
who laid them in their childhood bed
unaware of what had transpired.
In the morning she found them
several yards from the house
curled in a pathetic fetal position
as they had slept for years.
Cold and unresponsive,
the quiet one had attempted to sever himself
once it had become apparent that he was alone.