To A Friend

Is it strange that I feel no great sense of grief?
or wallowing sense of despair?
At first I did feel a twinge of conviction
that I was sitting all comfortable
and enjoying a good time
with good friends.
But then the reminder came:
that he's so much more alive now than ever,
that he'd want nothing other
than for us to toast his homecoming.

We were close, he and I;
but not the kind of close you might normally imagine.
So alike, yet so different.
We came from different worlds;
perhaps even the epitome of contrasts:
northern, and southern
black, and white
classical, and jazz
humorous, and serious

And the times we shared,
were real fun, but not the fun you have
and then forget, lost in the wash of random memory.
We did stuff...and went places;
but not the typical kind of stuff
and the ordinary kinds of places that people go.

When it comes down to it,
we inspired each other.
You, me; and I, you, I believe.
To do greater things, more things, better things...
...new things.
And to think new ideas.

But now that time has passed,
and the last meeting we shared
was yet again a revelation, one to the other,
I'm not going to say we stayed close.

The contrast of lives bore true,
you going your way,
and I mine.
But not so different were we.
For in each of our ways,
we did seek the freedom of new horizons.
Finding the reality of life
and the bondage of commitment.

I think that if you'd come home,
we'd have met up yet again.
And inspired each other,
challenging ideas.

But now, I'm afraid,
the inspiration is all mine;
the challenge is to me;
the betterment of this world
is a task for me to carry on.

Your potential was undoubted,
and, at first glance, cut so short.
But the new idea thrust upon me in that moment
was one of destiny:
you lived.
every moment.
and not one more.
never missing a chance.

So I'll laugh, I'll love, I'll jam out every note of life's score
and every once in a while,
perhaps more often than not,
break out in improv,
just for the hell of it.

And never forgetting the cliche-less sacrifice,
I'll press on towards the next horizon.