outside the vessel
for Robert J. St. Clair, Jr.
where have you gone
old friend in the obituary
brown beady eyes
exactly like nineteen seventy-one
looking to the side
and down
so as not to be caught looking
you once told me you felt
vacant inside
leaving me to wonder
if that’s how it always was
or did you come to terms
with who you had become
you’ve been a stranger to me
decades on end
and I imagine you must understand
more than I ever will
at least for the moment
while I remain inside this vessel
february two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 
Poignant elegy.
Thank you, Chris.
This is such a beautiful poem, it really touched me. You have said so much in a few sentences… love this.
Thank you very much, Mona.
I’m sorry for your loss.
I hadn’t seen Bob since the autumn of 1980. It’s the friends from childhood I remember most.
Interesting how that works…things from childhood having crystal clear memories and thing/people from just a few years ago are fuzzy.