Obnoxious Friend

I think every one of us,

Has had that one special friend…

The so-called village idiot,

Whose antics would never end.

They joined conversations uninvited,

Interrupted your dinner date…

Detained you on the way to work,

Making you show up an hour late.

They embarrassed you in front of friends,

More than once you wished you’d died.

They wore G-Strings at pool parties,

Forcing some indoors to hide.

After fifty years of running,

Our egos shrunk and identities grew…

I care not others think I'm crazy,

Missing you more than I ever knew.

Voices

Today I started hearing voices

From classrooms at Colonial Heights…

Elementary school friend’s laughter,

Teacher’s reprimands and playground fights.

I heard roller skating accidents,

Skateboard fails, and felt scabbed knees.

I heard bicycle riders screaming,

Before collisions with oak trees.

I heard the laughter in the splashing,

In the summer's swimming pools.

Seems we all took bows in middle school,

Proudly showing off as fools.

We sent clandestine notes in class,

Promising friendships lasting forever…

Only to realize fifty years later,

There’s been no communication what so ever.

Once we were the super heroes,

Bath towel capes, guarding the streets.

Soda bottles were our currency

For Kryptonite and available sweets.

Every single friend’s dog or cat,

Was an accepted clubhouse member…

We were children of the creeks and fields,

Until school started in September.

We gathered neighborhood children,

Some were enemies, but still best friends.

Ignorant that our futures,

May involve rest homes and Depends.

The young are unaware of time,

Eternity is the life they’ll live;

One day they will have just minutes,

Then only seconds left to give.

Firemen Fight Rekindles

There were idols from the past,

Who put on a very good show…

Leaving hopes to fade into the past;

Years with answers we’d never know.

Meanwhile there were decades,

Where I celebrated every day…

I thought I could die tomorrow,

Completely happy, with death Okay.

I appreciated nightly sunsets,

Every flower and the red of dawn…

Also the darkest windy days;

The twenty rabbits on my lawn.

Still all these decades later,

You still occupy my every thought.

So many ruses and betrayal,

In all your lies I bought.

Your attempts to rekindle old fires,

Immediately conjured up old magic…

Reality suddenly grabbed my ear,

Reminding me, your moods turned tragic.

It’s nice to see you reaching out,

To old friends from the past…

Reaching back for five decades proves,

For years, you’ve come in last.