Friend
Coulter Jacobs

I lived with him fer 2 years

2 years of smoke an’ drink,

arguments, cursing, an’ occasional

Brotherhood

One night he said I walked down

tha stairs like a zombie

an’ pissed in tha kitchen

then walked up an’ back t’ bed—

Tha next morning

there was newspaper all over

tha floor, an’ I had no clue

what was going on—

I trusted him,

met his Mom in New York

an’ drank Cream Ale

in stripclubs in Niagara Falls

We shot pool as Lucky Strike

smoke

faded babyblue into tha wooden

ceiling

We sat in tattoo chairs

in Toronto an’ laughed

silly drunkard giggles

We swallowed Las Vegas

on New Years Eve 2000

Him an’ my girl were

friends

(or so I thought)

Tha years ran through

tha empty bottles of booze

an’ when he moved out

we were not on speaking terms

So he went an’ tol’ my girl

I was a messin’ ‘round

An’ she dropped me

like a cigarette in tha

gutter

Now he sends her flowers,

takes her t’ concerts

He’s no longer my friend

He threw it all away

t’ try t’ get a piece

of ass—