I RAN INTO AN OLD FRIEND

I ran into an old friend
At the grocery store today

His beard is white now
The years heavy on him

But his grin was real
Behind his solid handshake
His happiness
At seeing me
Was evident

We leaned on our
carts
Two old men
remembering better days

“I live in another town now”
He said
“But I kept my bank account here
So on payday
I have to come here”

“This is why”
He said
“Because I run into old friends”

& we both slid into the past
letting the memories work

& he asked me about
a bartender
who has been dead
for five years
who worked in a bar
I have not entered for a decade

& when I set him straight
on that
it got really quiet
in that big grocery store

In the old days
I was often at his house
Always welcome
But he never came to mine

I paid cash
At the checkout

I didn’t see him
When I left

–Ben L. Hiatt