Loss of a Friend

I’ll miss Clark...
But not interminably.
How easily I close a book.
There will be time enough to reopen.

He orders his life,
Loves his wife and boys,
Gives to charities,
Adds value to the community.

A New York liberal,
We share many values,
Excluding his love for the Yankees!
A forgivable sin.

One truth annihilated our friendship.
I quit to salvage the game,
An extant thought that we had shared
Without anticipating our changing roles.

Certainly, and not for the first time,
I angered a friend.
His indignation became my courage and excuse;
Pathetic, but comforting.

I do not believe in the unforgivable,
Though, sadly, I sometimes practice the vice.
A disingenuous suggestion may annoy me
But it’s hardly subhuman.

Yes, Clark may, on occasion, be unconvincing,
And his motives unclear.
I’m sure I have been guilty of worse,
And the last verse is unwritten.