nine years

nine years today...

since my buddy paul left us
paul and many others
mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts
daughters, sons, nephews, and neices

i remember sucking down suds
and blowing smoke rings with paul
cranking sabbath and priest and maiden
smokin' 'boros in the bathroom

it'd been a long time since i'd seen him
too long, you know how it goes after high school
married, children, divorced, remarried, more children
lost track of all the ole mutha-fuckas i downed suds and blew smoke rings with

it'd been a long time since i'd seen him
too long - then the terrorists made sure it was forever
they made sure it was forever for a lot of people
a lot of people who were guilty of going to work

unlucky bastards, huh
nothin' we can do
can't bring 'em back
footnotes in history, who'll remember their names

i'll remember paul's name
his last name was fiore, it means flower in italian
his daughters will remember his name
but they were too young to remember the real paul

his wife will remember his name
i never met her, or his girls
i heard she had his memory etched into her back
a memorial tattoo of her beloved paul

nine years ago
my son, paul jr, was a month old
and nine years ago
my friend, paul fiore, died in the towers


9/11/2010, paul ingrassia