Oliebollen Molieben

 

I stood at the round red table by

the stand of the deep-fried dough 

though the photo-taker did not know

that I was even there displacing air.


He was an old friend I hadn’t even met

though I owed him a not-so-small debt

for being a friend when I’d had a need,

for being a friend, as they say, indeed.


So he shot his last shot while I was there

in the heart of a deep and unknowing despair

watching him walk off to God-knows-where

disappearing slowly in my blurring stare.

***

Per Nancy Forest-Flier:  Jim's last photo, taken on 23 December 2021. The oliebollen stand outside the Great Church in Alkmaar.