NaPoWriMo 2017, Day 10 -- A poem from my sketch/a portrait poem

Brother Ray 

I knew Brother Ray from way back when

1976 we met at church

His church since he had retired was Baptist

 

My first knowledge of Brother Ray, after 

the sermon the pastor had asked him to

give the closing prayer.  I remember that 

 

He prayed but no way could I understand
then, not a word he uttered.  Some may have 

I am sure that his God did understand

 

Parkinson's Disease was taking its toll

and Brother Ray trembled with every move

While he spoke his voice was trembling as well

 

Brother Ray claimed that each family or

church member had been visited by him

He didn't drive so someone else took him

 

Then one day his driving partner retired

and moved away.  There wasn't another

who stepped up to drive so I volunteered

 

We visited together for fourteen years 

After time I realized that I could 

understand every word he'd say.  Wonders

 

People asked us to come, they like his tales We stopped after he fell and broke his hip

Two more years, at age 99 he died

 

(My favorite tale was of his hunting skill

Every year he'd kill his deer though he shook
We were quite a pair, every Monday night)

_ _ _ _ _

Photos and Poem Copyright © 2017 Jimmiehov, All Rights Reserved

 - I'm linked with Margaret at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Poem Sketching, http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/04/poem-sketching.html
 - - - and   
 - to Day Ten of NaPoWriMo, http://www.napowrimo.net/day-ten-5/

 - Margaret's instructions were, "Today's challenge is for you to create and use a word list (and from it write).
 - Over at NaPoWriMo the instructions were, "Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that is a portrait of someone important to you."
 - I tried to satisfy both.