My Friend, Briggs

They found him dying 3:00 in the morning On the subway steps Of Maverick Station In East Boston Mass He was pronounced dead At Mass. General Hosp. He did time in Walpole For some minor offense He recommended I read "The Star Rover" by Jack London He gave me his bed once When I was feeling ill At the Pine Street Inn He slept under a bridge He was a Korean War Vet. He talked about Literature He took me to Lowell To see Jack Kerouac's grave He  called me Kerouac Made me feel like somebody I try to live up to it Rest in peace my friend (my favorite Kerouac quote) America has become a land of hearted money grubs, spawned by the Military Industrial complex.Briggs once told me about his travels with his buddy Spears, whom I met outside Boston City Hospital, waiting for the homeless bus to Long Island Shelter, started by the saintly Kitty Dukakis. Once, when Briggs and Spears were in a boxcar, in the middle of Nebraska, Bob Spears was dying for a smoke, but all his cigarette papers were gone, so he was constantly reading his mother's obituary, a fact that was not lost on the keenly observing Ted Briggs. Finally, with great remorse, and a look of shame on his face, he poured tobacco into his mother's "San Francisco" obituary, rolled it up, and smoked it. Ted and Bob, were my homeless buddies in Boston, which was the best time of my life, thanks to Kitty Dukakis, and the day labor places, where I made money everyday. Written February 27th, 2002 © on Feb 27 2002 06:48 AM PST   0 • 1