How does Jamaica Kincaid use imagery in My Brother?

Kincaid narrates the details of the story's main events using specific images to authenticate the experience and reveal how her brother's life "was like the bud that sets but, instead of opening into a flower, turns brown and falls off at your feet." She says:

His lips were scarlet red, as if layers and layers of skin had been removed and only one last layer remained, holding in place the dangerous fluid that was his blood. His face was sharp like a carving, like an image embossed on an emblem, a face full of deep suffering, beyond regrets or pleadings for a second chance.