when you asked me
to be best man
at your wedding
I didn’t realize
I had to embellish
the wild stories you told your niece
in my speech
but being your friend
I told of how you saved all of us
on the tour bus
from an alligator attack
in the Everglades
and on a fishing trip
battled pirates single-handedly
and thus saved the ship
Jimmy, old friend
the things we do for each other
so okay, the alligators
I can understand
I mean there were dozens of them
sunning themselves
and there could have been a feeding frenzy
the tour bus occupants being lunch
and you gallantly saving the day
bopping them on their snouts
kicking them back into the swamp
but pirates, Jimmy
outside Miami
that was a stretch
I did out of loyalty
for you
I did bring up those parking tickets
hundreds tumbling out of your glove compartment
back in BG
and you snickering
in that car of yours
you insisted I broke the rods
in the roof
while climbing on top of the hood
with alcoholic fueled bravado
a year later though
you got even
by driving over my foot
with your “mean red machine” van
one night
on our way to Lucy’s Burritos
which we could only find
drunk and at two in the morning
did we really drink that much
in those days
with you pulling on the beards of Texans
arguing with cops on Sunset Blvd
over the definition of jaywalking
and who won that race up the hill
in Malibu
Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy
my dear old friend
I miss your wit
your insightful comments
that sparkle in your eyes
just before trouble starts
how sad it is for me
to know we are both settling
ten thousand miles apart
me between Asia and Europe
you on the coast of Mexico
my only hope
one day
is to meet somewhere in between
so you can save us all
from the barbarians
for the first time
once again