Oh, Brother
by
Matt Zurbo
Jules had a problem,
with his twin, Roscoe.
Everywhere one went,
the other had to follow.
Two heads, one body,
made it awful tough,
when it came time to eat
and other important stuff.
Roscoe wanted to sing,
while Jules ducked and hid.
A song was sung, on the run,
by this weird little kid.
Skateboarding was a nightmare,
“Go that way!” “No, go this!”
Bumping and a-clunking,
shaking both their fists!
When they got into trouble,
Roscoe would tell a fib.
While Jules would slap his head;
“Just tell them what we did!”
Their teacher hatched a solution,
to sought both of them out,
signed them up to compete,
in a wrestling bout.
Their opponent, the Perculator,
was big, gruff and smelly,
ready to stomp on the boys,
then crush them with his belly!
Jules and Roscoe juggled,
to distract the hairy beast,
but then fought each other,
at the wrestler’s feet.
“Enough!” grumbled Jules,
I’ve got to get away.
“I agree!” raged Roscoe,
“You couldn’t pay me to stay!”
So they went to see a magician,
sat front row and centre!
When he asked for a volunteer,
well, there was no-one better.
(Magician with saw)
To the gasps of the crowd,
Roscoe and Jules were unlatched,
but then they ran away,
before being reattached!
Jules hopped here and there,
as glad as glad could be.
“At last! A quiet life!”
he whispered with much glee.
Roscoe missed his brother,
almost straight away.
He went and joined the circus,
hopping hoops for pay.
Soon, he fell for a girl,
with a big hat on her head,
who somehow didn’t mind,
his half a body with one head.
Jules became a scientist,
even made a fake leg and arm,
but without his brother to fight,
somehow,
found life annoyingly calm.
He buried himself in work,
inventing this and that,
when all he secretly wanted,
was to get his brother back.
It’s not that they agreed
on pretty much anything,
but Roscoe understood him,
the way you do with kin.
Then, just as lonely Jules,
was about to fly to Mars,
his office door flew open,
causing him to see stars.
“I’m back, brother! Returned!”
Roscoe shouted, with glee.
“Now, let me introduce you,
to someone you have to see.”
“This is my girlfriend Mary,
she loves me like no other,
but her sister, Lou,
is more like you, my brother.”
Roscoe, Jules, and Mary-Lou,
went out on a date or three.
And, much to their surprise,
got on charmingly.
If someone laughed and teased,
they’d stand on each other’s heads,
stare down grumpy doubters,
make their faces red.
All that was left to do,
was for the brothers to make peace.
To fight, squabble, disagree,
and accept that family can’t be beat.
The End
365 kids books in 365 days 