Pete

I can hardly understand you

mumbling through that thick salt and pepper mustache

and jowls that bounce

like my girlfriend's

Boxer-bulldog

But

your lecture feels helpful

kind

The occasional words understood

Marriage

Church

Vietnam

the weight

of the wrinkles on your face

beg me to listen

pleading

'Dear God son,

Don't make the mistakes I've made'

and each day at work

as we swim

in cages

in scuba gear

amidst the alcoholics

and the selfish

and the greedy

You ask

'Hey there young feller,

mind if I have a seat'

of coarse not

and there are those words again

Marriage

Church

Vietnam

and I can't help but listen.

Words like winds

pass my ears

as the sermon comes to a close

my preacher stands up

hunched over

dragging himself away

leaving behind

a bit of himself

smiling anew