THE RAVEN REVIEW
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • FAQ
  • Submit
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
    • Volume I >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume II >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume III >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume IV >
      • Issue I
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • FAQ
  • Submit
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
    • Volume I >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume II >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume III >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume IV >
      • Issue I

A Brother's Love

by Milton P. Ehrlich
I thought it was a caw of crackles
or the sound of my rusty gate 
when it was just a memory
of loved ones singing me 
Happy Birthday every year.
When I was a kid, 
I made the same wish
at my birthday parties--
or sighting the first star,
or pulling the larger part 
of a chicken wing--
and promised not to tell 
or it wouldn’t come true.
As I enjoy my 90th birthday, 
I still make the same wish 
and can’t tell you what it is.


Milton P. Ehrlich, Ph.D. is an 89-year-old psychologist and a veteran of the Korean War. He has published poems in Poetry Review, The Antigonish Review, London Grip, Arc Poetry Magazine, Descant Literary Magazine, Wisconsin Review, Red Wheelbarrow, and The New York Times.