you came to remind me how sweet
the world was with you in it  

your hands are front and center, their spasticity magnified
like I am meeting you all over again  

wondering at the awkward way you handle a fork
before I knew that you damn well  

could use those hands in all ways important,
before I came to love them exactly as they were  

because they were you, before I knew
that you lived with pain but pushed on  

that your brother never walked or talked,
but you were sure he loved