My Friend Nelligan Poem by ian hall

My friend Nelligan
I have his picture on my wall
Whose eyes shine with Innocence
tinged by a sadness
the last residue of ego lost

A black bowler hat sits on
His white straw hair
Punctuated by clumped black eye brows
He wears a coat made from a patchwork blanket

He holds a picture of himself as a younger man
An image fractured by time
In four jagged lines framing his younger face

A frame within a frame within a frame
Inscribed your friend Nelligan
Wishing you happy memories

I have never met Nelligan
But I know him well
From beyond the time and place
my memories come from

My friend Nelligan