"An Old Friend"

An Old Friend
I don’t see him all that frequently,
Sometimes he’s busy
Sometimes I’m busy
But it’s always nice when he comes around
When I can stop and say, ‘Nice to see you again’
Or, ‘It’s been a while hasn’t it.’
I always spot Orion’s belt first.
Sometimes I mention it to him,
“You know, I don’t normally talk to people about their weight,
But maybe it means something that people always see your waist first.”
I suppose it would be disconcerting if that garish belt he always wore wasn’t there
It’s reassuring
In 70 years, he’ll probably STILL be wearing that same, old, beat up, obnoxious belt.
I saw him a lot this past year in Boston
Especially in February
Maybe he and the Mrs. were having issues
I never found out; he’s always been a quiet type
But that was okay
That’s just how our friendship worked
We didn’t need to talk about everything
Or even anything
He’d catch up with me as I was getting out of the library after a night of studying
And we’d just sort of pass the time on the walk back
This year I’m studying in Chile
Just about two full continents away from home
And a couple weeks ago - who should show up, but Orion
“I hope you get frequent flyer miles,” I told him
I joked for a while,
But seeing an old friend made a difference
You know?