Old Friends by Alan Catlin

I’m supposed
to know him
we’re supposed
to have gone
back all the
way to something
like the Stone
Ages together
we were such
good friends
we had matching
tattoos on our
arms when we
were kids
the whole nine
yards
I was supposed
to go “Oh, yeah
you’re‑
and he was
supposed to go‑
ain’t that the
truth and I was
to lend him 50
big ones or
something
except I
thought he reminded
me of a guy
who owed me 20
bucks which kind
of reminded him
I looked like
some other guy
who tended bar
somewhere else

Alan Catlin is the poetry editor of misfitmagazine.net. His latest books of poetry are American Odyssey from Future Cycle and Last Man Standing from Lummox Press