You Always Have Candy in Your Pocket
Saru Potturi

because you're an older brother, been one since you were three
because you know what cheers a ten-year-old up, and because
you know you've got to distribute them equally

your left pocket always bulges, the right one you leave free
for me to tuck my hand into on december days with the sleet
on the streets, every inch of road covered in melting snow
and your nose red from the cold, just the tip, and you don't
like coffee but you put some on anyway.

                                                                   the kettle screams.
the kettle screams; the marshmallow bobs. and i think about
buoyancy and how it's a living thing, i think about the face
you make when you drink, wrinkling your pink nose in jest
i think about the cadences in your voice, the dips and crests
they settle softly in my chest, the warmth and bitterness.

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Saru Potturi (PO '24)