You, My Dear, and Me

We are alike and unalike. Only the
first fourteen years of our lives
were lived without knowledge of one
another. Yet I maintain the belief
that somehow I knew you before then
that you came to me in a dream, so
real that when we did meet I was
quick to recognize you. Over the
years that have since passed we have
grown more alike one another, yet
our differences persist. I remember,
do you? Often you do, and I don't.
But we recall in tandem the flavour
of our youth, the shared time together
you assuring me with your steadfast
presence, and taking pleasure in
mine. When we were young and
newly married, when we moved to
a home of our own, neighbours
asked where our parents were, certain
we were brother and sister. Brother
you are to me, lover, husband, son
and father because you encompass
in yourself everything that is tender
and true and beloved, my dear one.