An Unfamiliar Look

My brother is drifting far from shore.
Each time I see him,
He still knows me by name,
Yet he’s wafted even farther away.
Now, when we’re together,
Our conversation is one-sided:
I ask all the questions,
And he responds with “yes” or “no”—
No filling in with details of his own.
It used to not be this way,
For he was the focus of interest
At all our family gatherings.
Our nephews would encircle him,
Bending over with laughter
From his sidesplitting jokes and anecdotes.
Was his mirth found in others
Only to cover up the pain he held within?
Who knows?
Such pride he had in his six sons.
Gabe, his baby, was tragically taken
At the tender age of three—
Killed by their family dog!
Years of pain had slipped past
When Joe Michael, his oldest,
Passed on from a massive heart attack.
Over time he seemed all right.
However, one Easter Sunday,
The glue that held him together—
His dear wife, Donna Mae—moved to heaven.
Oft times he would say to me,
“I think about them all the time
And awaken at night
From some sort of dream world—
Donna’s calling my name.”
I would listen—wait to hear more.
Now, he wears a mysterious smile
And has an unfamiliar look in his eyes,
As though he’s thinking…reflecting.
What is he meditating upon?
It haunts me, and I wonder.
Even though I can
Place my arms around him
And whisper, “I love you,”
He’s gone.
I miss you, Kenneth.


©2013 By David Lee Thompson