REUNION TREPIDATION

 

Reunions are strange affairs

Full of shadows of events long past

Faces swim at you from the crowd

Faces from the past

Some are old friends

Greyer in colour

Frailer in body

But still recognisable

Someone says

“I haven't seen you for years”

And suddenly you see them as they once were

You swap stories

Exchange remembrances

And the years just melt away

Though at times you grasp for names

In the far reaches

Of your cluttered mind

You pour over old albums

Regimental photos

Or company teams

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.

Your trepidation at attending long gone

With the pleasure of old friendships revisited

You are glad you made the effort

 

At reunions and other such gatherings

Amongst the sea of faces

There always appears

As if released from a time capsule

That one person who seems completely unchanged

The “Dorian Gray”

Who makes you feel older than ever

And a little bit envious

But not bitter

You console yourself with the fact

He has a painting of Methuselah in his attic

Plus there was that smug satisfaction you got

When you met the rabble rousers of your youth

That are now the teetotallers

Or those with walking frames

And the special diets

 

Reunions are more than that though

It’s not just about meeting old friends

Some people you never liked

Some you always avoided

Those are the ones who propel themselves

Excocet like from the throng

And act like your long lost best friend

They are the ones you need rescuing from

That cause time to stand still

They ones that caused your trepidation

Who talks incessantly

About everything

And nothing

The ones that cause you to vow

“This is my last reunion”

Or “Never again”

But because the one annoyance

Is the exception to the rule

When next you're asked

You always relent