JONESY

I wish I knew these things

I had an unbelievable headache

The moan of a hangover ringing in my ears

I was literally holding something to my head

She was walking by quickly

Glanced over quickly

And, did a double take

Holding my eyes as I returned her gaze

There was knowing and knowledge in our eyes even though we had never met

Intimate knowledge

We both recognized something

What?

This is what I wish I knew

Jonesy spoke in a matter of fact fashion

“I know I have had two heart attacks

The second one was serious and knocked me right to the floor

Felt like a heard of elephants stampeding on my chest, took a long time to recover

My wife grabbed the phone

I told her to put the fucking phone down,

I am not going to die”

His hands were ruined

Working on the heavy bag without gloves

Two tours in Viet Nam - Harley Davidson rides around the northwest

One of the other crewmembers - speaking of me - said, “I thought he was kidding”

Jonesy, “I took one look into his fucking eyes and knew he wasn’t kidding

Jonesy – of course – hung right there with me

You know what I really like?

Serving homemade pumpkin soup with cheese bread

Searching for that which isn’t

Communicating without speaking

Listening when there is nothing to be heard

The warmth of a fire

Warm words

Writing love poems that I know are being read

Solitude

Beauty in all forms

Of course the violence, the ugliness the hatred

I know it is out there…still brush up against it from time to time

But I have to acknowledge it for it to exist

She recognized me and moved over in front of the camera

Dancing with a smile while holding my eyes

Gawd, is there anything more beautiful?