a poem for max

my long, lost friend

i drank a beer in your honor just now
and found that my little kitchen plant- which has been a source of utter perplexity
sprouted a tiny blossom
that I’m sure nobody can see but me
because it’s the color of your laugh
it’s the shape of your scent
and it demands a presence of redefinition
perhaps, and hopeful might I say, like this rekindling
this spark
of remembrance