REUNIONS

 

Reunions are strange affairs

“I haven’t seen you for years”

Someone says

Faces swim at you from the crowd

Faces from the past

Meeting old friends

Greyer in colour

Frailer in body

But still recognisable

 

You swap stories

Exchange remembrances

Grasping for names

In the far reaches

Of a cluttered mind

You pour over old albums

Picking out familiar faces

“His name was Chisholm”

“What was his first name?”

“George?”

“No he played trombone”

“Tom, Tim, no Jim”

You feel pleased with yourself.

 

At such gatherings

Amongst the sea of faces

There is the one who

Appears as if

From a time capsule

Making you feel older than ever

Then there is the one

Who talks incessantly

About everything

And nothing

The one that causes you to vow

“This is my last reunion”

When next you’re asked

But you always relent