old friend gone

Old Friend Gone.

My old friend died suddenly, we used to go
drinking a lot when young, lately, however
I hadn’t seen much of him, as we get older
we ought to look after our friends they slip
away so easily. At the cemetery they took
the lid of the casket so we could have a last
look, peaceful, god had given him an easy
death; I could read in the faces of other old
men, dark dread; soon it would be one of
us, forever silent in a casket. The funereal
had sharpened my senses children’s voices,
from the playground, and birdsong; spring
air clear, and I could see the hazy mountain
of my dreams and yearnings.