Old Friends

Old Friends

by Peter Green

They can rip out your soul

Old Friends

When they die

There's never any warning

No warm up

No heads up

Hey...I'm dying here...just so ya know...

You get the call

So...did ya hear?

It was the big 'C'

or

It was a heart attack

or

A big red truck

Outta control came outta nowhere

Took 'im out

Head  crushed

Yup

Like a ripe melon

Meat 'n flesh

Ground into the black asphalt...

When the words hit

When your ear drum vibrates

When the message reaches your

Brain

All you can do is laugh

Can't be

No way

Must be someone else

That's your friend

He'll never die

We'll never die

We made a pact

Then it smacks you

Smacks you hard

D****t!

Like your fathers backhand against your head

Stinging

Throbbing

No last words

No requests

No words of wisdom

Lungs just stop

A breath...another...and another...

and...

 

Hand loses grip

Fingers dangle

 

We all know what happens then

Heart stops

Brain waves 

Frozen in time

Soul exits body

 

A flash of light

unseen

 

Cold replaces warm

Spirit is gone

(Even if we don't believe)

A life is now

A history

 

We talk in past tense

Remember when...

Those were good times...

I'll never forget that time...

He was such a good father...such a good husband...

such a good friend...

Then it begins

A reel

A movie

Black and white

You replay your lives together

Two young boys

Was it eternity?

No, only a few years

Just a speck of time

Intertwined fibers

Of love

Held together

With

 

Bikes and

Creeks with frogs and snakes and

Road hockey and

Bobby Orr and

Comic books and

Playboy Magazines

 

Old Friends

 

They make you laugh

They make you cry

They make you aware

They teach you how to live

And sometimes 

They teach you how to die

 

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

How true---every word of it. You've known it, I've known it, and someday we'll be on the other end. I really enjoy your insight and style of writing.