These are the People in my Neighborhood: Poet&Dreamer

I first met Poet through my Bro. They both went to Staven school together, and met due to a Wolverine T-shirt.

Poet was soft spoken, very thoughtful, and extremely shy. When there was a group of us he always seemed to get lost in the shuffle, sometimes on purpose. During one of the many parties at my Bro's house it wasn't unusual to find Poet sitting out back by himself writing his poems by moonlight.

At first he was just one of the folks that I'd see whenever I'd visit down there. There was quite a group, and since I didn't go that often there was a limit to how close I'd get to them. They were my Bro's friends, not necessarily mine. But somewhere along the way that changed for some of them. Poet was such a one. I started to occasionally go down to visit him at his house when my Bro wasn't around. We'd walk down to the beach and sit and watch the waves and talk about comics and girls and life in general.

It was just before my Bro moved to bOregon that Poet met Dreamer. She was his first real girlfriend, the first time he came out of his shell enough, perhaps, to allow himself to believe he could have one (much like myself, the Poet was often a self-defeating person when it came to our outtakes on life. Good things happen, to others that is.). Unfortunately there was some bad vibes between the two of them and my Bro's lady, Patties. By the time my Bro left they weren't talking much, which seemed a shame considering how close they'd been.

I stayed in touch with Poet after my Bro was gone. He moved out on his own with Dreamer and I would go visit sometimes. But if there was one thing that Poet had in common with my Bro it was a major faliure in keeping in touch with people. One day I went to call and got a "this number is no longer in service message'. When I went to visit, they had moved.

10 years passed. Occasionally I'd hear rumors about how Poet and Dreamer were doing from friends who saw him. But I was kinda annoyed at how he'd failed to keep in touch and didn't follow up. Perhaps in time I might have, or maybe if things had been different this post would never have been written.

But then my Bro's Dad, Big B, passed away. Bro came back from bOregon, and we all went to the funeral. And who should turn up but Poet. Standing outside the funeral while they all had a smoke it was just like old times. The conversation picked up as if they happened yesterday. As we left there that night Poet admitted that he had missed having us all in his life, but had held back because he wasn't sure how we felt about him anymore. To which he learned that when it comes to me and Bro, once a Friend always a Friend.

Bro and I ended up going to Poet and Dreamers wedding a month or so later. He also helped talk his Dad into getting me into Yale along with him. Which in many ways is what has currently turned my life around. None of that would have happened if not for Big B passing, so you get the feeling that at least some good came out of his death after all. (also, Bro moved back here for good, which is another good things to come from Big B.).

While I haven't gotten to talk to him much since we both started at Yale (we work differant shifts) I am glad that I have my friend and his lovely lady back in my life. It's been a pleasure getting to know Dreamer, who is much like Poet in being soft spoken yet still much more outgoing than he. She is an old world Deadhead/Phish follower. An avid Stephen King fan too. Between his comic collecting and her horror novels I feel right at home at their house.

Time can cause a lot of things, but a good friendship never fully dies away.