your voice     a cat-caress
with the soft static of cigarettes

your ponytailed hair

silvered by sixty-odd years

of what life throws at you

sometimes you walked on crutches
oftener you used the motorized wheelchair

one time i saw you walk

unassisted       lurching & hobbling

a dozen steps
without complaint

you once allowed
that you liked the way i looked from behind
then wondered
if i would have you up

on harassment charges

another time you told me

you would make glogg 

with a liquor illegal in this country
180 proof

you didn't like richard on the 6th floor
you weren't alone in that

he was     to put it mildly

obstinately anti-feminist         boorish really
you refused to ride the elevator with him

one afternoon

when you didn’t have your crutches

i helped you into a friend's s u v 

i held you in a hugging dance

of slow & stuttering music

*

you died in your sleep last november

i still have your card

from a few years ago

merry christmas tom
wishing you an interesting new year
joy

ps broke my glasses
sorry for the penmanship