Sibling Rivalry

Ah, summer. A petri dish for petulance, rivalry, complaints.  "He can't eat MY crackers!" says one, though I'm the one who bought the crackers, a gigantic CostCo bag that will take a week to empty even at the current carnivorous rate.  "He doesn't like my shoes!" says another, as if a brother's approval is required to don appropriate footwear. "He got into the car the wrong way" - an inexplicable stoop to the silliest of accusations.  Here's a short poem, an ode to summer sibling rivalry.

Sibling Rivalry

The voices spiral upward in supplication,

With anger at supposed injustices or in fear of retribution.

They swirl and bind me, helpless as a bull's eye, 

Where the accused descend like arrows, 

Demand arbitration (never mediation), conviction and sentencing,

Yet stubbornly refuse to accept my verdict.

Instead seek out the cracks in my armor,

The bias in my reasoning. 

Prove my prejudice, turn their ire toward me.

At least then they stop fighting each other.