the small dog on my floor , pacing and shaking, the sky just opened, bellowed and left, she hates that. i love it. the trees out front of the house have shed their white blossoms and are green and full of birds. magpies and crows, one of which i had to pluck from its perch, sparrow eaters. but those cardinals, they have left the nest and sure enough flown west. maybe even floated that way, which is more likely, on a river of amber smoke. i kinda just keep going here, and havent stopped to think about the hole you two left in the floor and the silence that now drifts through it. i have to say my drinking has been cut at least 40% since your departure, i say this in regret i suppose, but my old age may thank me. in lifes fullness, i place our time, experience and friendship among the thickest of pleasures. to see you grow in comfort and knowledge of yourselves and your music will be something i hope to remember and share with my grandchildren or someone else's at least. the heavy notes which you had to depart on were cruel, unfortunate and undeserved, i speak of lane of course. Al, i know the strength is there for you and he and your family to overcome and im sure it is already happening. my heart is thankful for you both, and until we meet again, which we will soon,for anything you gotta do, you do. im going to get mildly drunk tonight. jasmine and alex, my love for you is like an old hat, it smells, its dirty, and it fits like an old hat, perfectly.
your friend in arms,
dr.
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