The Disappeared

He had pals once, he had mates, he once, twice and many times after had women. He had a hat but he lost that. Lost the girls, lost pals, lost mates. He had to admit that all he once knew were disappearing, he himself, was disappearing, bits of him had already been cut out to be burnt up in Hospital incinerators. The details of those many far flung places, (all his peripatetic wanderings), were disappearing one by one, one temple, one hotel, one mountain at a time. One day he will awake get himself ready to go out to walk his dog, then remember to late, that his dog had disappeared about the same time they both got throat cancer. For now, he instinctively checks his pockets for whatever is left.