Bad Influence

He was my best friend for years.
Then, he wasn't. It ended just like that.
The decades of rambling and word play
And honesty stopped. We never went
Hiking again. We never drove out to
An ocean or rode on a train or opened
Our homes to each other. He'd gotten
To be a terrible drunk. The last time
We met, he drank gin in the morning
And looked like a walrus, he'd bloated
Up so. He'd gotten divorced, claimed
To be impotent, lost his job, and had
Taken the cure at least twice, and
None of that mattered to me. He was
My friend. I liked being with him,
But I suppose someone, in AA or
Someplace, said he had to steer
Clear of anything that made him
Think about drinking. Yeah, we
Used to drink. So he left, saying
Nothing, and got to keep living.
Others have done likewise, which
Leads me to wonder, what is
The matter with me?



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 64 times
Written on 2016-10-04 at 00:59

dott Save as a bookmark (requires login)
dott Write a comment (requires login)
dott Send as email (requires login)
dott Print text