Sweet Billy Brother

He annoyed me with his jokes

I avoided him and his ways

And, then one day I listened

To what he actually had to say.

He was, much to my amazement,

A sweet fellow who loved his mother,

Loved his wife, loved his brothers.

He was not quick to anger

But very quick to laugh

To eat, to talk, to share,

He got me through some sad

Moments of despair when his mother

My cute, little mother-in-law, died

And I was guilt-ridden for not

Having saved her from abuse

By her caregivers.

Then it was a matter of saving

Him and my husband from

Those same evildoers,

One of whom abused them

When they were little boys.

He showed how sweet and

Peaceable he was, Billy did.

He forgave so easily, after he was used

So badly, so often, still he forgave,

Now he is gone, too soon

Since he was younger than I

Afterall, though much sicker.

He leaves behind a wife who

Will suffer losing him.

He leaves behind a brother

A sister-in-law and a stepsister

All three evil, all three hurt him

Each in a different way. Then,

As if they had a right, they

Ejected him from the family,

Which cut him like a knife wound.

Today he stopped bleeding

And lay asleep in peace

No longer suffering, just asleep.

He leaves my husband, his brother,

And he leaves me, his newly

Adopted sister behind as well.

We will always remember Billy

A sweet fellow with a good heart.