A Poem by Michael Lessell, Essay Example

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“How to watch your brother die” is a poem by Michael Lessell. The poem talks about a guy who had problems with his brother, because he was homosexual. The poem has been structured in a way similar to a short story, with the author narrating about this experience as an experience that all people will have at the end. (I added sentence to add weight on the subject)

The subject of ‘homosexuality’ is a current issue facing the society, as people struggle to cope to live with individuals who are homosexuals. This is by reason that homosexuals are part of the

Society, and normal people are expected to find ways of living normally with this group of people.

The poem brings out the real issue of homosexuals in the society from a family context. The poet uses great wit to act in the position of one brother, and demonstrates the real feelings and perceptions that individuals have towards homosexuals. This comes to be a central subject as many people struggle to cope with homosexuals in the society, where homosexuals are treated as unfit people in the society. The author focuses on the need for people to have a different view from the common view that homosexuals are not normal people in the society.

The author notes that an increased number of people have and are around homosexuals, yet they fail to know the lifestyles maintained by the homosexuals. Indeed, Lassell confronts an important subject that has affected individuals and family in the current age. The issue of homosexuality affects individual, and family life and experiences and must be addressed for harmony to exist between the straight and homosexual people (added this sentence to capture homosexuality as a subject in the poem). Lassell brings out his perspective about homosexual and their discrimination in this society, by putting him-self as the main character and guiding us through the entire poem.

In the poem the main character is a straight guy who has a wife, when the brother says, “say to your wife,” the voice here sounds like saying to us to be calm when we say to our wife that his brother is dying, and he is the speaker of this poem (changed the phrase to make it in proper English). The brother went to California to see his dying brother in the hospital. In the hospital, he mentioned, “my brother is dying i need to fly to California”. The speaker is talking to us on why we need not to lose our mind and be calm. He does this by saying, “be calm, say, try not to be shocked.” The straight brother did not accept the communication, for he did not know that his brother is a gay, or he did not like the fact that his brother is gay (I added the right verb). He did not like when he brother mentioned, “try not be shocked when the young man says, “I’m his lover”’, and his brother is a gay man and he has a lover too.

In an effort of the brother to encourage, his brother not to be shocked brings out the message of the author on the need for understanding and coexistence among the members of the community. In this context, the author uses the brother-brother approach to illustrate that homosexuals are part of the society, and at times individuals who are close to use. The implication is that time needs to come where individuals would need to appreciate homosexual people in the society, for they are still their own people.

The two brothers had some problems between them, “I remember the time he was jealous and opened your eyebrow with a sharp stick; forgive him out loud.” Indeed, even if they had problems they still cared for each other and that’s why the main character went to California to see his dying brother. This is evidenced by the straight brother words to his homosexual brother, which reads “My brother is dying; I have to fly to California.” The straight brother has a scare in his face and it will be the only thing that reminds him of his brother, “Realize the scar will be all that’s left of him.” The main brother is nice to other people even if they are gay. He proves this when he mentions, “you’re an extremely good-looking young man.” In this context, he sounds like he really cares about other people even if they are gay, which this doesn’t happen a lot in Russia.

The main brother had to go to Mexico for illegal drugs, for maybe, they will find drugs that will help his brother in Mexico. This is clear when he says, “drive to Mexico for unproven drugs.” (I put the right capitalization for Mexico) This is because it’s been known that in Mexico, they sell illegal drugs, which you can’t buy it in United States. When the brother wanted to come back with illegal drugs, he sounded like he was furious when they did not let him bring the drugs. When the border guard said, “You can’t brings those across, and he could see in the guard’s eye how much a man can hate another man.” (I put the right spacing between ‘you’ and ‘cant’ terms in the sentence). The guard was talking about the drugs.

When they came back from Mexico, the straight brother said to the lover, how could you be calm and not doing anything when the guard’s didn’t let them bring the drugs. This he said by the statement, “how can you stand this.” The gay lover sounds as if he had many problems with other people because he was gay. He demonstrates this problem when he says, “you’ll get used to it.” This was because many of the people are racial toward homosexual and have an indifferent attitude towards them. The brother believed in God and he knew that God gives life and take it. He says, “Offer God anything to bring your brother back.” This happens when that is the only option that he has to have his brother safely back home.

The gay brother died at the time when the speaker mentions (created a smooth flow of the sentence), “stare at the face of the funeral director.” The straight brother has so much hate for the people he did not like. This comes clear when he says, “let him see in your eye how much a man hates another man” and he used the repetition to let everyone know how much he could hate.

The brother that died was like a flower, everyone loved it. This is demonstrated by the author’s mention of the funeral attendance numbers. His brother said that there were many people in the funeral, “to each several hundred men who file past in tears.” In the death of the brother, many people came into the funeral and were saddened by his death. This indicates the great love and compassion that people had for the homosexual brother\, yet at times in life, individuals discriminated him. The funeral marks a positive climax to the message, where one picks on the need to love and care for others in as much as they may be homosexuals. This is because the homosexuals are part of the society, and cannot be discriminated against on grounds of their sexual orientation.

The speaker has children or thinks that he will have a child (I restructured the sentence to be grammatical), when he mentioned, “think how your children will feel in your arms, warm and friendly and without challenge.” This shows the value that he had for children in his life and how he will carry them with happiness. The father of the speaker is dead and that makes it harder to handle his brother’s death. He mentions this when he says, “since your father died.” The brother wanted to forget that his brother death by drinking scotch, foe scotch would just hit him hard so he doesn’t have to feel anger anymore for a little while. In the last line, the writer used the child as a sign of happiness, because the child will make you smile when they are in your hands. He says, “Smile at the memory and think how your children will feel in your arms”

The poem has a significant message about gay people around us (I restructured the sentence to be grammatical),. If one has a brother or even a sister, one does not need to be mad at them, for one may not know when they are leaving (dying). The poem teaches one to be nice with the people that one cares about and loves. Go to Mexico for unproven drugs if there is no choice left, you might find some good drugs there and will help you get through your disease. One learns on the importance of not getting mad with a brother just because he is gay or something, for eventually he is your brother.

The patterns that were used in the poem are repetition of religious imagery. This is demonstrated when the speaker mentions, “offer God anything” which meant that the brother believed in God and that’s the last thing a person could do just to pray to God so his brother could be saved by God. He used another repetition, which is the “ing,” when he mentioned “anything to bring your brother back” and “nothing God,” which it means God is everything and he could do anything. The writer used inconsistent use of capital letters in, “god, when the call comes, i’m” . The speaker used violent action when he mentioned, “opened your eyebrow with a sharp stick,” which it meant that he got into a fight and he was angry with his brother but he wanted to forgive him when he said, “forgive him.” The writer used, “how much a man can hate another man”, which meant that let the other’s sometime feel how angry you are so they could see how angry you look and they will be nicer to you.

The writer wanted to give us two messages. The first one is, as long as you have family don’t miss the chance of being with them, for other people want to give everything so they could see their parents or their family (I restructured the sentence to create a smooth flow). As long as you have a family, do not have any grudge at your family because they only live once and you can’t bring them back. Many people these days don’t care about their family or their friends and that’s the message of the writer. He did a good job by delivering the theme in an emotional way to the readers. The pain of losing a brother is hard to take. In addition, the pain of the lover and how he watched his lover dies is more than anyone could take. The second one is about homosexual people, how they feel, and how they are treated by other people. He makes it clear on why people need to understand homosexuals and change the negative attitude on homosexuals in our society. Homosexual people should be treated as everyone else in this world; they should not look at like new people in this world or weird people (I cut the long sentence to make it relevant and straight to the point).