Nice to sit with a guy you have known for 70 years
outside the North Jetty Fish Camp in Nokomis, Florida
drinking cans of PBR and watching for dolphins to roll
past as you talk about common interests
The two of you often never spoke for years at a time …
one insult or another being enough to trigger that
But now you are too old to waste time in silence
and know better how not to set the other off
and the thing is: two brothers on a bench
do not want to be disturbed
They’ve already missed too much of each other
and have little bench time left
<p>Barry Butson began late as a poet, but has published five collections. <em>East End Poems</em> (Moonstone Press, 1998) won the annual Milton Acorn People’s Poetry Award. His work has appeared in journals and anthologies in Canada, the United States, England, Ireland, Wales, France and Australia. His sixth collection of poetry comes out from Altadore Press in fall 2015 and is called <em>small</em></p>
Advertisement
Advertisement