as we talked like we always have
(this poor kid with the cute scarf
says zack (calls himself gene
but doesn't want me to call him that

that name is for bill collectors

one day he's at the market and meets
a polish woman who pronounces his
name correctly for the first time in a
very long while

he almost forgot how to say it himself

this conversation we had
it was put down and just left there

------

i will always remember lyosha as
an upstanding person           (a defender

sasha as a friend

and misha as a solitary man