Living Northwest Style

Green or Blue

Trees of ash

Sway. I knew time would rip

our friendship. We headed off to college.

Different directions.

We talked through the hours,

losing track of time.

I remember a time

you tapped my shoulder to ask,

‘green or blue?’, mimicking a phrase from “Your

Song.” The year that ripped

Jimi, Janis, and Jim from our lives.

Their deaths still leave a hole.

To you, I owe

my love of music. I did not respect our friendship.

Significant events take place when we are still

so young, emotionally inept. We burn bridges to ash.

I ripped

 the hearts of friends who request no power.

Our years together, fleeting as an hour.

I owe

A dream for this rip

In time,

to relive the past.

Are you living still?

I heard you were ill,

spending days on the streets, hour

by hour, stealing from meters, looking for cash.

You owe

yourself the merit I never gave to you. Time

went on, I let you slip.

Out of sight, those who saw you, scoffed. I wanted to rip

their hearts out. Still,

I wonder if time

took you away or if one fleeting hour

you saw the light. I owe

for the laughter and joy, you brought to my past.