He did alright for himself
That’s how I see my friend, now
He made a living out of music
Married and raised a family
A benefit of age is perspective
I knew him before it all
He was a waiter and I a doctoral student
We played in a band together
He got a job teaching music at a ma and pop store
Pretty much the town’s only music store
I set my sights on a university professorship
I wondered then if that’s all he planned to do in life
He taught and gigged the past thirty-three years
Married, now the father of grown adults
A house, a family, a musician
He did alright for himself
I got the Ph.D., but the professorship never came through
Ordained a Swedenborgian minister a decade ago
A long-term relationship, travels together and moments
In retrospect—the gift of age—we both did alright for ourselves