Charles – A Poem by JD DeHart

Lumbering figure,
a once-friend who could never
quite hold a job.
Not for long.
Now gone, no longer walking
down the street, looking
for a ride. No longer
making his jokes, pretending
to be young even though
his temples were graying.
We had not talked in years,
the last communication
vague thoughts of a gathering,
a few reminisces.
A reminder of the inevitable
loss of the list of remembered
names and places.