coffee tea or me

as crazy as my friend was,

Debbie the flight attendant,
she was fun.

smart as a whip, well read,
intuitive. nothing ever got
by her.

she was always three steps ahead
of me,
she had the upper hand,
the upper leg.
the upper everything on me.

as sweet and charming as she was,
she was as equally untruthful.

with nary a wink, she'd lie
like a rug
about anything and everything,
she always had something to hide.

but I didn't care.

she knew I knew. so that made
it interesting.

it was never going to go anywhere
to begin with,
because of all the other
men in her life, and all the other
women in mine.

but when we were together,
we were both all there. all in
for a three day layover.

I can still see her at the airport,
luggage at her side,
in uniform, red lipstick on,
stockings and heels,
with a sly cat ate the canary
grin.

even near death, shaved bald
and bone thin, she smiled
and winked
for the camera. she sat there
in her wheel chair,
half of what she was,
and promised that she'd see
me once again.