New Friends: Kit Taylor

The Hudson Bar and Grill was fairly empty for 4:30. I checked my phone - I should have enough time to get a couple of songs played on the lobby piano before the scheduled pianist arrives at 5 o'clock - time to get my name and talent out there!
Ah, but I forget that my plans are fickle. As I walked through the front doors I spotted him - sharply dressed, with a vest and stylishly unkempt 5 o'clock shadow, he was rearranging the tip jar and setting out his albums. I was too late to play, but just in time to talk to the pianist!
I we exchanged names and started talking about show biz. Like most pianists, Kit showed enthusiasm and passion for the the one thing we had in common: music. He encouraged me to continue to talk to pianists, and to hand out business cards whenever possible (I had some on the way, but they've been delayed - of all the luck!). He also encouraged me to learn the top 10 most popular solo piano songs - songs like Piano Man, Misty, and other classics. If you know these songs, and have a couple of others to add on in between, you'll be set for life.
Kit invited me to stay around until 5, bid me good day, picked up his copy of John Grisham's The Associate, and retired to do some reading. Not to miss the chance to drink in the music of a master, I sat down to wait for 5 o'clock.
I was not to be disappointed. As the hour arrived, the sounds of a jazz standard flowed out from the grand piano, turning the previously diconnected sounds of the restaurant into a symphony of joyful busyness. I closed my eyes and watched the music in my mind's eye....

Fireside notes float,
unnoticed, like a spark
borne on a puff of fairy breath.

Must music always drift away?
Or does it stay,
Like a lonely mist of forgotten love?

New Friends: Buck

I met Buck today.
I was driving around looking for work, and saw him sitting up against a wall, holding a joint, a drink of some sort in a paper bag beside him, looking hopeless and unloved. I did my customary wave and continued on what I was doing.
After another false trail of finding employment, I was ready to move on... But then I remembered what lonely feels like, and how it feels to have someone pay attention to you, and I decided to spend a couple of minutes with him.
He seemed a little startled that I was sitting next to him, but he offered a weather-beaten hand and introduced himself. "I'm Buck." (I think that's what his name was, but it was hard to tell through his rather copious beard.) "Nice to meet you, I'm Isaac! How've you been?" Buck isn't the talkative type: I think life on the streets has taken the wind out of his sails long ago. "Oh, so so, just been walking around..." I realized with shock that this was probably the entire story of his day.
I tried to think of more to talk about, but with a reply like that I wasn't sure what else would be comfortable to talk about. "Nice weather today," I noted unnecessarily. "Yeah, yeah it is...." He looked up at the clearing sky with a look of partial surprise, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him. I offered him a piece of my Hershey's with Almonds... "No thanks, I'm not really a chocolate fan." We sat, the silence between us slightly unsettling. Buck lit up his joint, which up until this point he had held in quivering hands.
I stayed a few moments longer, then, with an excuse and a hurried smile, left him sitting where he was, staring blankly at the gathering clouds. As I continued on my way, I thought about my life, the stability, the happiness, the hope....