I wasn’t born with them, being the oldest, but I have seven.  Seven brothers.  I think as a child they should have been dancing & singing just like “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”  What a neat, tidy fantasy that would have been. 

Uh, wait a minute,  I only have six.  It’s early and hard to count.  But most are wanderers.  One is a sailor, one flies, another hunts and spawns babies.  There’s a mason who is taller than any and the smart one that can trace the traveling of a cell phone call from the Phillipines through every tower in between.

And then there are my brothers I’ve chosen who live near me now.  One is an actor who loves to play tennis.  Another works harder than any lawyer or doctor I’ve ever known to endure a horrendous certification to be a landscape architect.

Brothers say protection, safety, warmth and strength.  I met a channeled entity who introduced himself as a Brother.  And I need that male spirit near me often.  Like my kin, the trees, I lean on their steadfast and rooted center.  I hug them tight whether they feel it or not.