Smithy Poem by J.B. LeBuert

We first met at Long Binh, in good old Viet Nam.
What a terrific time - it really was the bomb.
Our first time off the base, we got arrested.
Our friendship remained, it wasn't really tested.

I next saw him in central Washington.
He was at college there, I couldn't stay, I really had to run.
I had come up there from Nevada - Reno to be specific.
I was attending college there - it really was terrific.

Smithy was a friend of mine, back in the day,
He was a gentle soul, and sometimes we would play.
Back in the early ‘70's, I came out, a cabin to complete.
We laid out his cabin, twelve hundred square feet.

He offered me five acres, to stay and lend a hand.
My life would have been different, maybe even grand?
We parted then still friends; I really didn't know
If I would return, right then I had to go.

The next time I visited, I helped him chink a wall.
I brought a girlfriend, a Burmese python snake, and we had a ball.
We had a real good time, but now he was in love.
Mary was her name, and it seemed blessed from above.

The last time I saw him, he was happy and it showed.
I didn't spend much time there; he told me "Hit the road."
I left that beautiful island, vowing never to come back.
I thought that it was best, considering his attack.

I visited the area with my wife, didn't think he'd really care.
I didn't try to contact him, and he never knew we were there.
I went my way and he went his - I never questioned why.
I thought of him many times - he was a special guy.

Now he's found me, after time has made us old.
He found me on the internet, to me, like finding gold.
We now talk through emails, and again we start to play.
He's still a very special guy; we may meet again some day.