Friends Reunited

Friends reunited

He'd had the sun behind him last time
Now the swaying was full frontal
I'd already caught myself and wept
We stood together
Luckily light was fading
Outside the bookshop
Tottering Ottakerly
Afternoon drinkers
Three pints later
Curvy turned bloated
Cold white skin to handshake
Sliced vulnerable to damaged
Passion to blurting
Exquisite idiosyncracies disorderly compulsions
Softness decay
But the voice was there still
Sonorous and cutting
As he told me my ring looked cheap
And reminded me that most of my books were his