"This is it,
the last time.
Not my last time,
for there will be many more,
but before I go,
take a second.
Or two.
As though leaving a humble abode
for the last time.
Or realistically,
one to be proud of,
one no need for humility.
A tendency to be crass,
the one-stop coffeeshop
that was the first building
foot stepped in,
the exact final destination
of a journey
across from
one Ocean to the next.
First impressions,
wild differences between
vernacular and tone,
'shaka brah',
and an immediate inquiry
as to where the hell
I come from.
Brash,
but immediately warm
the very first contact
turned out to be,
only to observe
more than a year of stumbles,
pieces scribbled,
baristas in and out,
one to be a brother
calling this location
headquarters,
locomotives blaring by
in a flash of red
everyday.
Bicentennial
the count not of years,
but of poetic conveyance,
written in the soft glow
of this shop,
this shop the subject
times so often giving
detail to who,
what, where,
and how that one girl,
that one time,
smelt as she walked by.
Edited,
the time spent
since the Spring,
but some things never change,
and that's how at home
I feel in this booth.
Bottoms up,
here's to you,
one last brew,
one last time.
No more lines
to be written
here,
skate to the next place,
though it won't be the same."
"The coffee shop,
where in the middle of the block,
it had started;
where they met.
Their headquarters,
where they rested
over iced drinks
after a long skate.
Old friends,
young men,
two, not the same blood
or kin
shake hands
and embrace the others grin,
a tight squeeze
given to each.
Brothers,
such a tight bond
with so little time,
sealed the deal
of interlocking
storylines,
adventures and shared
scrapes.
Escaping near death,
falling off boards onto wrists,
downhill descent
screaming past parked cars,
wherein that itself
is a rare occurance
when once was daily.
Temperature varied,
as did the places they'd
hunker down,
sweating,
stopping to have a drink.
Seperated by little,
attached at the hip,
it seemed. Until
life happened,
having sent the older
away for summmer,
the younger away for the rest,
testing himself and his brain.
Drumming away,
marching on by,
the two had lives
blur on by,
spiraling in different directions,
story arcs and sidequests,
conquests coloring the night,
but by and by,
when guest apperances
would transpire,
everything dropped
to meet one another,
the bond was made stronger
with the short time
it had to cure.
Not to say
neither were lost,
but both stepped in confidence.
Always looking ahead,
but once they were together,
unspoken,
to each love was gave.
Brotherly love,
concrete waves."