The Reckoning. Poem by Dan Reynolds

I hugged a brittle stick the other night
The remnants of a friend.
A wheezing, gasping, floundering fish.
He sang in bursts..
but still, he sang.

I tried to fill his furrowed lines
Re-paint his hair jet-black
Inflated out his sullen shouders
Gave this man his boyhood back.
A drink or three he shared with me
The clock slowly rewound
The shadows of his awkward dance
Too shallow now, to be profound.
"I knew you when…" he mouthed again
Then stopped for breath, but said, no more.
I rubbed his back. I held his hand.
But could not wait, to close that door.