Graybeards By Ken Gierke

Never alone, even now,

he enters the bar

with measured steps,

his companion close by his side.

Once settled into his usual seat

at the end of the bar, he glances down

as he drops the leash to the floor.

His dear friend raises a muzzle, gray

from their many years together,

to briefly lock eyes with him

before settling in with no desire

to be anywhere but by his side.

It’s been a hard-learned lesson

to never let him be out of sight.

He’s always been there,

just as she was. Until she wasn’t.

Both have known a lifetime with her.

Sensing his sorrow and owning it,

just as he does, there can be no repeat.

When it’s his time to leave,

he will not be alone.

Ken Gierke is retired and transplanted to mid-Missouri from Western New York. His poetry has been published or is forthcoming both in print and online in such places as The Rye Whiskey Review, Poetry Breakfast, Amethyst Review, Rusty Truck, Trailer Park Quarterly, The Gasconade Review, and River Dog Zine. His poetry collections, Glass Awash in 2022, and Heron Spirit in 2024, were published by Spartan Press. His website: https://rivrvlogr.com/