7.__gifts you and i met friend of a friend slow collision of late nights stalled pub crawl traffic so that we have always formed a triumvirate the third person in this poem bridge that is always present between us while i watch hockey night in canada in this city - a hum of light on lake water so far from that georgian highway the smell of garlic from the kitchen Steph's fingers, darker, stronger than mine trained by the hard steel of guitar strings sear the scent on the pan and you are always the unspoken topic of conversation pulling like a compass absent approval i seek in the mirror we look for midnight adventure to bring to your bedside an offering of stories and yet you've become my anchoress your words a covenant eyes glazed with the second sight of near death