r

I could see you from the outset that your demons

were very different for my own

Mine try to devour me from the inside while yours

especially with a drop or two of alcohol in you

made you erupt in fury without warning

you scared me and I kept my distance especially after

that time late in the first summer of our so-called friendship

when you phoned to say “corky and I

are going to see [a band we both revered]

and I thought I should probably ask

if you wanted to go too”

what a way you had of making a boy feel wanted!

In the succeeding 52 years

I dared count on you twice

first the night the woman with whom I’d been cheating on my girlfriend

declared she’d kill herself if I didn’t come to her that evening

I took the threat seriously and asked you to cover for me

if you found my two-timing my girlfriend unconscionable

(as I have come to see it myself)

you could have declined, but no

and then, push came to shove, and you “forgot” what you’d agreed to do

and there was hell to play

fast-forward 52 years

about to abandon my second marriage and

I am beside myself with doubt and guilt

and need a friend just to listen to me

I spill my heart out and at the end

both grateful for and surprised by your forebearance

thank you for listening so patiently

whereupon you point out that you weren’t really listening

but only pretending to

I’d needed a friend

and got a comedian instead

oh for two