If I Had Not Been In Your Life (Biography Poem)

Your morning 10th grade Bob Marley serenades wouldn’t have had a 6th grade Wailer backup
My cries when you hid my books in high places wouldn’t have made you smile
The memory of a pool of blood on the floor wouldn’t come to you
And there would be no thumb with a scar on it
If I had not been in your life, your childhood would have been boring.

If I was not in your life now
Clemson football on satellite would be something you’d have to pay for
The big Chattooga Rapids would be only a sight rather than a ride
No need to offer to carry something up the trail at the end of the river day
You would anyway, but for someone who would let you.

If I wasn’t planning on being an old woman when I die
You wouldn’t worry about me being hard on your boys when they get to my school
You wouldn’t see my brown hair turn gray while your brown hair falls out
You wouldn’t have me to hug when our parents leave us behind
Having me holding on to you to make sure you didn’t slip away with them.

You told me once when we were kids that you wish I had never been born,
Your bratty little sister who still can’t keep her mouth shut
In time to stop her thoughts from falling out
But if I had never been born, you would have never known the difference
And you’d have been the youngest, left with no one to look up to you.