The Last Time I Saw Richard

I went to see his wife

Figure skate

But she had stopped

A few years ago

Outside the rink

In the January air

I thought about what made me

Get to somebody

Years too late

But when I added it up

It tracked with the rest of my life

The party was always long over

By the time I showed up

With my bean dip and pretzels

And I’d lost friends time and again

Because months would go by

Without me thinking

To check on them

But Richard was someone

I kept meaning

To inquire about
And all I could remember

Was the wife skated

Down near Callachee

So down I went

Only to find out

That only person there

Could recall her name

While I was standing outside

A guy came out and joined me

He was there with his nephew

And he said he had a few hours to kill

While the nephew trained

With some Russian woman

Who got thrown out of the Olympics

For doping

The guy asked if I wanted

To grab a burger and I said ‘Yeah’

Twenty minutes later

I was telling him about Richard

And how Richard was

And how I hadn’t talked to him in years

And that even now with the Internet

You could still stay off the grid

If you really wanted to

And Richard was one of those guys

Who either really wanted to

Or just up and died

And I didn’t even know about it

I ate my burger with the tomatoes

Falling out of it

And I didn’t worry about looking good

To this man who was trying

To win me over

My game ended a little bit after Richard

But this poor schmuck didn’t know that

And I wasn’t about to pass up

A free burger

The nephew’s uncle asked me

What I was doing the rest of the day

And I told him I spend my days

Spending money that’s not mine

He laughed, thinking I was being poetic

But I’m no poet

And the money I mentioned

Was what came to me

After a small settlement

From a car accident

A few years back

I was going to run out any day now

But I wasn’t trying to save

Because the more you save

The longer you live

And I wasn’t interested

In living that long

I just wanted to talk to Richard
One more time

Before I shuffled off

But my only lead

Was a figure skating wife

And it looked like

She might have kicked the bucket

A long time ago too

Sometimes I forget

How young I’m not

And even then I tell myself

That people are living longer

All the time

Outside it’s unseasonably warm

And the smell of beef

Puts me in a good mood

Even though I’m supposed to be

A vegetarian

The nephew’s uncle

Offers to drive me back to the rink

But I have no reason to return

Other than that being

The last place I was

So many people

Go back to where they were

Just because

They’re not sure

Where else to go

I’m not sure either

But when I’m not sure

I go east and keep going

Until I get a bright idea

About an hour into walking east

I got hungry again

And remembered

That Richard used to make

The best burgers

Better than any I’d had

In a long time

I wondered what else

I’d forgotten

About him

And while I tried to remember

All I could do

Was forget