Waiting In A Song

Gary

Charlie

I see you through the hazed memories

of cigarette smoke and cheap wine.

Bill Withers singing Lean on Me

always brings your ghost to visit.

You are the glue that holds me

to the careless summer nights of 1972.

We rode motorcycles, toked weed

and didn’t think beyond the moment.

You were my best friend, full of mischief,

with a big heart and fierce loyalty.

We lived in a bubble we thought

life would never burst.

I don’t dwell on the last time I saw you

with an oxygen tank and hollow eyes.

Hell, we hated goodbyes…tried our best

to never say them….see you later was enough.

Besides you are always there waiting in a song

to erase the years and let me live for a while

In the hot August nights of 1972 where tomorrow

didn’t matter as much as just living in today.

©Susie Clevenger 2012

Stuart McPherson over at dVerse ~ Poets Pub had us writing about missing you. I wrote this about my husband Charlie, and his friend Gary. Charlie didn't get to spend very many years with his best friend, but it created a bond that keeps them connected even though Gary is gone. Neither of us can hear the song Lean on Me  and not think of Gary and all he meant to us. Poetics: Missing You

Also at Real Toads Mary gave us the prompt of connections to use for our inspiration to write. This fits that idea also. Charlie and Gary are forever connected. Mary's Mixed Bag ~ Connection