My adoptive mother said:
I chose you from all the others.
My adoptive mother meant:
when the wheel of fortune
stop spinning the arrow
pointed you and that was that.

My “brother,” biological son
of my adoptive parents said:
we have always thought of you
just like a brother.
My “brother” meant:
we were stuck with you
though you weren’t even half to us.

When my adoptive mother died
her will said: you get 5%,
the “brother” will get 75%.
My adoptive mother meant:
death allows me to say you
did a nice job filling a need
until my own came along, and
that’s worth a little something.

I, the adopted son, on her death
said Kaddish and Buddhist Memorial prayer.
I, the adopted son, meant:
I have my freedom now, I can openly
be the orphan I always knew I was.