4am in Moda: what lingers still: for JEP

here, old friend
5000 miles and more away
you appear still
scotch whiskey
in a glass
ice cubes
bumping shoulders
your deadpan delivery
pinball and burritos at 3am
in bars 3000 miles apart
those Texans you antagonized
mercilessly
tears amid the laughter
the mischief in your eyes
this is what
lingers still
your ghost refusing
to fade into the darkness
one more shot
for to you
to comfort us
both
and to keep the wolves
at bay
while you wait
patiently
for me
to join you
in that honky-tonk bar
in the sky

mixing lines from Wei Ying-wu and T’ao Ch’ien for friends both now and then dear to my heart: the ebb and flow of time

there is the ebb
and flow
of time
and we old friend
are participants
we are young
we are old
we embrace
countless times
in greeting in farewell
leaving each time
a thousand streams
of tears
wondering when
if ever
all this coming
and going
will end
and we can finally sit
in the shade
of some distant tree
a glass of whiskey
in our hands
and time
once and for all
on our side