YOU'LL BE MISSED

I sit here numb on a Friday night, late, staring at TV images of a legend gone forever. This generation's last mania-inducing legend.Mad genius and oddball eccentric he was part Howard Hughes, part Elvis, part Mickey Mouse and that's what made him, him.Scandals aside, my adolescence and to a large degree, even my early adulthood was consumed by his essence.I wasn't alone. There wasn't a tucked away corner of the world where people didn't know him.Need...

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LAYOVER IN AN AIRPORT LOUNGE (poem)

LAYOVER IN AN AIRPORT LOUNGE I was at the airport recently when I saddled up to a gentleman in the lounge. People were smoking. She brought me my usual in this most unusual of places. At least for me. It had been years since I was in an airport lounge alone and I couldn't help my body language from advertising it. My plane wasn't in for at least an hour and I had enough time to kill before the pre-flight Valium, so I glanced at the TV and thanked...

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THE POWER OF A SINATRA ZIPPO (poem)

I remember my old Sinatra Zippo that I picked it up on one of the Vegas trips that seem now like a figmant. For years to come, Frankie would keep me company at the watering holes and help me look cool when one of the cupcakes needed a light. He'd stare at me, smiling, half-embarassed that I placed him next to my sweaty Miller Light. It beckoned me to order a Jack. He was right. I did him the favor. Through the years I've come to understand that...

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