brother

keys etch lines
in rough bark
scraping, slicing

we were here.

red leaves
rise around you
filling the gaps
time steals from
memories

long beyond
the tally marks
we remain.

This poem won Poetry Prompt Prize for November 2022. It is inspired by Catriona Wright's prompt "Create a Time Capsule"

Poetry Editor Brandon Wint writes about "brother" by Megan Hook: 

"brother" by Megan Hook subtly and reverently uses the "time capsule" prompt in order to craft a poem which comments on the slow, inevitable passage of time in a way that seems to testify to the resilience of a loving sibling relationship. The poem is wonderfully economical, as no word is out of place, and no phrase is wasted.

a picture of Megan Hook

Megan Hook

Grade: 12 / CEGEP I
Loyalist Collegiate & Vocational Institute
Kingston, ON

“The idea of creating a time capsule indicates saving memories for later – my friend and I did just that. We had a tally mark line of days we'd spent in a tree etched right into the branches themselves. And all I could think of when I read the prompt was the inherent wonder in saving memories for someone else, and the idea that when people go to that tree in years, they'll see the marks we left. ”

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