you've been gone five years

today I know it's forever

the social security death index

explains why you didn't return my calls,

I failed you

I won't blame your puns directly

but they created a distance you needed

as I have learned from taking your lead

we roamed the streets together

reading poems to those who didn't know

they needed one

even after we were done

you offered me a room

when I had no money & no job

fed me until I got one

we talked poetry 'til all hours of the night

created festivals

where hundreds read their poems

we made poems on the spot

alone & together

& failed on stage trying

you were always reading books

a phi beta kappa from purdue

could talk about scaling pentagon walls

& later always on call at at&t

because you knew their main computer best

I saw it as something big enough for your intellect

& alone with that responsibility, you drank

closed yancey's many nights

many nights

when last we spoke

you had had a stroke

you said you remembered lines of my poetry, but not my name

reading was frustrating—

your peripheral vision continued the page

with imaginary characters

your brain was slow to identify

but you'd like a have dinner sometime, even for oldtime sake

just give you a call

©  2011  Bill Vartnaw