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thePeorian.com
RAIN
by Nel Babitzke
I remember you when it rains
Sitting on your porch we talked for hours
And when it rained you smiled
We grew quiet letting our senses take over
Breathing deeply you said, “I love the rain”
And all the world grew right, if only for the moment
Knowing time was short you still didn’t rush
Nor did you panic or fret, not that I saw
You lived each day as it came
Embracing all the joy you found
A birdsong, the blue of a perfect sky, and cookies
Sometimes when I’m cross I think of you
With so much to resent you chose not to
You would have said it was a waste of time
And you knew more than most, how short time could be
Almost twelve years later, I miss you still
My teacher, my friend, my Dad
Nel Babitzke is a Peoria native and lives now with her husband in East Peoria. She has been writing poetry since
childhood and she attributes her love of words to her “proper English speaking grandmother” and her father,
Chuck Satchfield, who included a poem in every card he sent her. He passed away March 4, 1992.
