I see your pictures
and even though
you’re a few years gone,
it feels like yesterday
since you were playing your songs.
Part of me wants
you to be here
with me,
but I wouldn’t wish
this kind of shit
on my enemies.
You had a hard time
before things got hard
like this.
I’m not sure
that you could endure
this current crisis.
Maybe it’s better
that you’re not here,
having to figure out
every little idea.
Or, maybe
you would still be
in your prime.
Maybe you would have
found a way to survive.
I think I ought to leave
the living up to me,
while I am still here
to breathe.
Putting all of this
on the shoulders of the dead
doesn’t seem like how
I should remember a friend.
I guess I have to be strong
since you’re not here to be,
and I can take some strength
from your memory,
’cause one day
a memory
is all I’ll leave.
I hope to God
that I can be strong
for those after me.
Rest easy,
old friend.
Don’t worry about anything.
HG – 2022
