Jack is dead
Jack is dead
Where have you gone
My father-like friend
When I want to call you
And hear your gravely voice
You old marine
Did you ever really return
From the war in the pacific or
Were you just passing time
Until you could go to sleep
All the booze and the late nights
And the cigarettes and the run- ins with forgone celebrities telling stories
at bar sides after two AM in Manhattan
You wore your Marine Corps watch
And held your chest high and I never heard you complain because you lived through the worst of the worst and all else was a gift
That you chose your days with drink in hand was your business for I know that you killed many in battle and were spared the big death in your twenties  -was just what it was my old friend
I've dreamt of you for some reason in the past few nights  my pal 
But tonight your memory and absence has brought me to tears 
You live in my heart and I miss you terribly.