I'm glad I've visited my friend at last...
   My dear friend...
    You left so early...

We met 
   when we were in our early teens
 and we were friends as adults
until your last day on the Earth,
   the 20th of March in 2020...

Four years have passed...
  I've had 2 dreadful cases of covid
and 2 of Epstein Barr...

But I've survived...
  I was surprised myself...

Today I visited your grave at last...
 The cemetery is in the country
   and huge like a big city...

I wasn't sure I would find your grave...
  But I did find it.
Young oriental gyus, cemetery workers,
   were very helpful.
Of course, they wanted to make money on the cleaning...
  I'd gladly pay them.

What I didn't know -
 your grandfather is buried there too.
He was a priest of the old rite,
  his name was Lazarus,
his father's - Jacob.

Now you're all there.
  I liked the place -
two crosses and the granite slab -
  your father's.
Your mom outlived you by only 5 short months...
  She died at 84
and you - at 62...

Sooner or later
   we'll all go there...

Out life is fleeting,
  temporary...

"God doesn't look
  if you're young or old,"
said one of the oriental gyus.
  "He'll take you when He likes..."

It's true,
   so very true...

My dear friend,
   I'm missing you -
our walks,
   our talks...

You photographed me
  at all the openings
of my solo shows
  and
at the presentation of the memorial board
   to our teacher...
He took us all over the country
  in our teens...

It feels so recent...

And he himself was 60 at that time.
   He seemed so old to us...

Now I'm 65,
  but feel so young,
although I know
  that soon I'll have to go...
and leave my body...

But shall we see each other THERE?

"I love your soul," - you told me once.
   It was the best confession
in the world
   that I have ever had...



June 30, 2024