by Ted Onulak

Created on: July 04, 2010   Last Updated: July 23, 2010

We see each other
On and off
This boyhood friend of mine
There really isn’t ever
All that much to say
Except that we’re doing just fine

The truth is we’re not really
On and off
But somewhere in between
We each had followed
Such different roads
Pursuing our personal dreams

The red neon beer sign crackled
On and off
Like a pine knot in a smoldering fire

We sat in a booth
In the old college bar
As our time-honored custom required

The girls we once loved there
On and off
Were still memories sweet-smelling and soft
Now there were only
Some out-of-work miners
Who just drank their cold beers and coughed

He thinks of quitting
On and off
But he’s got a house down by the mining road
My friend looked bad
Since he started digging soft coal
His eyes looked bloodshot and old

He’s always thinking
On and off
About leaving his kids and wife
But everyday, he’s up at dawn
With a thermos of coffee and Beam
And goes quietly on with his life

We talk like this
Off and on
I always spring for the burgers and beer
He shakes my hand and pounds my back
And says he’ll come see me next year

The rain is falling
On and off
As I head home down 40 East
My thoughts are full
Of the friend I love most
But somehow, manage to see the least

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