Jim Slaughter Poet Verse

Old Friends

For Brenda...


I'd been thinking 'bout a show we did together,
Get a call out of the blue,
You're in town, just passing through,
Maybe we could meet up later if I'm free.
You say the name of your hotel,
Yes, I know it very well,
Why don't you go down to the bar
And wait for me.

It's more than twenty years since we last saw each other,
And before we've even started,
It's as if we'd never parted,
That's the kind of friends we've been for all those years.
You say I haven't changed a bit,
And I say you're still looking fit,
We laugh and hug and choke back, "Liar!"
Through happy tears.

You're on tour and you have left another lover.
I smile and say what else is new,
I'm between romances, too,
It's a shame we don't have better taste in friends.
And we consider why we do it
And the pain of getting through it,
There's no excuse,
And we'll be doing it again.

You want to know if I have lived with many lovers.
I reply, there've been a few,
But none measured up to you,
We'd be happy for a while, then she'd move on.
You say all loves come to an end,
That's why we're better off as friends,
And we'll be that way
When all is said and done.

Then I ask you if your life is ever lonely.
Do you ever feel despair,
Or afraid when no one's there,
Ever feel like giving up and going home?
You say an actress comes to love it
'cause it's part and parcel of it,
And helps to make the most of good times
When they come.

So we sit in that bar and talk 'til two,
And reminisce as old friends do,
And tell each other what we've been through,
How far we've come, things left undone,
The loves we've known, why we're alone,
And promise not to wait so long
To meet like this again,
And how very glad we are
That we're old friends.

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Bill Baker June 25, 2023 at 10:10 AM Sounds about right, Jim, but you made a poem out it it. It's happen to me a fewe times. Memories come to mind. Thanks for sharing, Bill p.s. I'll be following your poetry, Jim. Jim Slaughter June 25, 2023 at 10:13 AM Bill, thank you. I appreciate all the "following" I can get.

Sam Kauffman June 22, 2023 at 2:19 PM A true story wonderfully related, Jim, with the simple ease of old friends getting re-acquainted. A life experience we relate to so easily. I see from your response to ilene that this is a true story. Wonderful to know you have stayed in touch. Blessings to you. Jim Slaughter June 23, 2023 at 10:42 AM Thanks, Sam. And, yes, mostly true. Brenda is one of my dearest friends from my old acting days. She, too, is now retired from the stage.

Ilene Bauer June 22, 2023 at 12:29 PM a very touching and heartwarming poem, jim! it's wonderful when you can connect with an old friend like that... Jim Slaughter June 22, 2023 at 2:03 PM Thanks, Ilene, and, yes it is/was. Nowadays we still keep in touch via phone calls and emails.