Oatsy,

Met him in homeroom class
In high school,
He was cooler
Than James Dean,
Even then.
No stranger to drinking
And fighting,
Known to the baddest around,
Loved by the coolest of girls,
And any who called 
Him a friend,
Never a bully,
Not one to start fights,
But if you wronged him,
You’d best make it right.
We drank in bars
All over the county,
We were known quite well
In those days,
We drank tequila 
South of the border,
Smoked pot a lot
And we took several trips,
Explored inner space together,
Laughing in unknown lands,
Survived the excesses of youth,
Like others, we mellowed
With time..
Now we are getting
Kind of long in the tooth,
Still friends,
And both, still alive,
I work with words
And I write...
He works on his Norton bike,
And a 49 Ford
He still drives.