all my friends named paul

i've always loved the name paul
the way it sounds
the singular syllabic sense of it
the look of the double vowels au
in the middle
going somewhere
to the l final sound
starting with a push or pull

paul friends are always unexpected
they happen upon my path
in vienna i had two
one was three years old,
and austrian
so he said his name
"powl" which was
lovely, i thought
"powl" loved organs
he dragged his momma
into the catholic cathedrals
she had strayed from since
her college years
and now she found herself
sitting in them
watching her son listen
with rapt, silent, eager attention
to the sounds coming from unknown
unseen fingers
"powl" loved the color green
he would choose outfits with all pieces in different shades of it
it was wondrous
to behold
it made me want to make a dress
of every shade of it
to feel so much love
for the color
we prefer
and this love of his
in particular
extended to vegetables
can you imagine!
powl at three
eating Spargel with glee

my next viennese paul friend
owned a shop near my flat
he noticed me walking by
doubly daily or even thrice
depending on the uni schedule
one day at long last
he called me in to the shop
'one cup tea', he said
'one cup tea, friend',
and after a few days of
this friendly offer
i decided to say why not
and step inside
just to see
i returned
daily
the entirety of the year
and stopped feeling
so lonely
he gave me several items
and many cups of coffee and tea
and pastries and candies
the pink ones he put on top
i was at the time a bit
under-nourished
i couldn't cook
much besides
vegetarian pasta
and i spent all my
euros on gelato
and books
but finally,
i had to leave the city
and i could barely bring
myself to say goodbye
i didn't know how to part ways
with someone who once took
my hands in his and breathed in
deep and slow like my old
greek friend joe
and told me
my heart was too big
for just one immature boy
and that i should share it with
people who deserved it
and many of them
that the world needed
a heart like mine
in it

i thought about that
years later
when many parts of me had
decided to give up
my mind, my hands, my feet
my thighs, my ankles,
my fingertips even
but my ears never did
my teeth never did
and my heart, my heart never would
let me give up, oh no
i hated it for a while
it was so persistent

i have a friend at music school
who was finally my grouchy
jazz pianist cigarette smokin'
long islander pal
we complain
we bitch
we moan
we groan
we play music
we feel better
we talk it all over
in our spot under the trees
he's got his smoke,
i've got espresso
in hundred degree weather
we wear long pants
we got our glasses on too
he makes me feel
sometimes
so cool

but today, i almost missed out
on a new paul friend
a cold in my chest
but i went out to the store
car-less and a bit hope-less too
on a bleak monday morning
when all my rest was stolen
i saw him up ahead
hundred yards or so
in a tattered wheelchair, pulling back
vines from a fence
i thought maybe, a side door?
i wasn't sure
but i got closer, and i stopped
he was searching the leaves
he had caught the branch, and it flung
away his flashlight
he uses it on the side
of the chair
because he got hit once
and he won't get hit again
crossing the street
his knee is blown out
both hips too
he just found out
he's number one in line
for city housing
so he's doing just fine,
how bout you?
we couldn't find the light,
i was feeling so bad about it
he asked, could he carry my bags on his lap
if i'd help push him up the little
bit of the hill ahead?
i pushed him all the way to the store
i would have pushed him some more
we chatted for a while,
he told me his story
i asked him his name, he said paul,
i said lucy,
we talked and then were at the sliding doors
he swiveled around
looked right in my eyes this time
asked my name again
thanked me
i said 'of course, my pleasure
i wish you all the best, and god
bless'