Keep Your Distance, Stranger

Keep Your Distance, Stranger

keep your distance Stranger,
…stay away!
i can sense your interest,
…in wondering if i will play.

into my life
you have all come.
friends, foes and lovers,
…one by one.

i have played with you,
i have fought with you.
i have loved you,
and i have hated you,
…and yet, you all were my treasures.

for all sorts of reasons,
it hasn’t really mattered
you’ve all left, one by one,
…leaving my spirit shattered.

joey & jay & jerry & john,
childhood buddies of years ago
where you are today,
…you know, i think i know,

i once found jay,
one night in ‘86.
he couldn’t remember me,
…maybe i don’t exist.

i found bill’s dad
in montana in ‘95.
bill’s no longer with us,
…eight months before – suicide.

i came across tom a while back,
a despised enemy from a career past.
we sat and talked for a while,
…even my damn enemies don’t last.

marty & joe, craig, hollywood & rick,
bill & dobie, mike & rat – dear friends from years ago.
we flew together and raised a bit of hell,
…and created stories others still tell.

i know where you all are,
you are never, ever, very far, from my heart.
i try though not to think of you much,
…as on some days it tends to tear me apart.

dana & sandy, susan, steph & mary,
and perhaps a couple others along the way.
at one time or another, in one way or another, each of you was my lover.
…but eventually you either left on you own, or i pushed you away.

so, i can sense your interest Stranger,
and i can make you smile.
but be it friend, or foe, or lover
…i know you’ll be leaving in a while.

so keep your distance Stranger,
stay away!
i have no more room for anymore hurt;
i don’t want to play…
…so please Stranger, go away.

Bobby H.
1998