Book of Faces

Alex Montgomery

Alex Montgomery,

Thought you'd be living on a boat,

Sailing the Adriatic, keeping your partner afloat.

I pictured you getting tan;

Brown skin like a Mexican;

You must have some salsa

In your blood;

You're not a burning man.

You took us out on the river,

The Mississippi River;

Now those cold Seattle waters

Must be giving you the shivers.

How's you liver?

'Cause I bet you're going out.

Washington has the shows, the music,

no doubt.

The pictures get me itching,

To get outside;

Get up into the mountains

In the land of Thai.

But before I go up,

Let's take a trip down,

Down memory lane,

Way back in B-town.

I know we hung out,

Just can't remember what we did.

Probably chilled in parking lots

Or somebody's basement.

We were only kids,

And I guess we still kinda are.

I'd love to see you 'round,

But I live pretty far.

Hope you enjoy your job;

Saving water, saves us all.

But if somehow the job is dry,

At night you'll have a ball.

Right?

So to keep things light,

Have a good Friday.

And if you have the time,

Send an update my way.

Alex Menard

Alex Menard, I've been waiting for the moment

I receive a letter in the mail you will have sent,

Inviting back the class of 2008,

But three more years I will have to wait.

You are the perfect candidate

To plan a reunion,

You'll order the fine wines

So we can drink like Communion.

I know you're human,

But it's hard to accept;

Sometimes you seem so flawless,

Like you're on a higher step.

Do you wake up like that?

Tell me "No, it takes work,"

That normal people like me

Can, with time and effort,

Produce the same spark.

Just as a tuning fork

Resonates the same sound

Of a nearby fork

That someone has pound,

Other people shine brighter

When you are around;

The law of resonance

Lifts your friends off the ground.

I hope you like England

And that you learning new slang.

Just don't lose your American twang.

You learning to curate,

And I think that's great.

Fine art is fun to appreciate,

And I appreciate you

And the hard work you put in

To everything you do;

Such a good student;

Our class president.

I know at our reunion,

I'll be happy I went!

Alex Krist

Here's the gist

About Alex Krist:

He's as jolly as Santa and my best friend's sis.

I've known his face since he was just a twerp;

I've known his laugh and sound of his burp.

We used to play frogger 'n watch SNL;

In the Krist house, I always seemed to dwell.

He was a camera man for our video projects,

Like the song "Swing, Swing" : All American Rejects.

I never rejected "Rejected Cartoons" for kicks and gigs;

"I am the Queen of France," but "My spoon is too big."

Alex you got so big:

From boy, to man-boy, to man.

That's just how it is,

But it's hard to understand;

Because I don't have a brother,

But you're pretty close to one.

So glad you found a significant other;

She's as lovely as the sun.

You two will grow old together,

Just like you grew up.

The family ski trips

Will be so fun with all the future pups.

Babies, that is.

But there is no rush.

If any mom pressures you,

Tell her to hush.

I say 'any' and not 'either'

Because you have so many;

Alex, the number of moms you have, alone, is uncanny:

Cindy, Julie, Kathy, Jenna, Maggie, Tara, Claire;

No wonder you turned out alright.

There are more to declare,

But I gotta keep this rhyme tight.

I see you live in Bettendorf,

And it makes me miss home.

Knowing you still gather at that house,

While I'm in Asia writing poems.

Wish I could be there at your wedding,

See you exchange your vows.

If I wouldn't have been invited,

I'd have show up anyhow.

Finally, happy 11/11.

Today is the day.

Make a wish on 11:11,

And the lottery might pay.

Let's say there are unlimited wishes;

So will you make one for me:

That I go on a future ski trip

With you and your family!

Alex Evans

Alex Evans, zen me yang?

That means how are you doing,

In Mandarin Chinese,

Because that's how I knew him.

We studied in Tianjin for a whole summer,

And had class at UW when that dream was over.

In China, we'd go out to the clubs nearby,

Like the one above KFC.

We always said hi,

To the Chinese students under the fluorescent lights,

Studying until the dawn broke the night.

We'd stumble out, dizzy from emptying our glasses,

Of baijiu,

Then go home,

To rest up for classes.

We took a trip to Tai Shan, one I'll never forget,

We started climbing up the mountain well after sunset,

And got to the top just before it rose again,

I told myself I'd be back to show my children.

So Alex,

Now you're out West,

And it looks like fun.

You're out at the clubs and working for Amazon.

You've got a nice partner, yeah he looks really cute,

Have you taught him any Chinese, or is he a mute?

Wang bu liao, translation: unforgettable.

Say it like a gangsta, a good response is inevitable.

On another note, I think you'd like Thailand,

A ladyboy country with massages and sand.

If you make it out here, just give me a ring,

We'll reminisce with karaoke if you still like to sing!

Alex Dean

I came outside to write these words,

To look up to the clouds and listen in on the birds.

Thought it might give me inspiration,

On a poem about a guy with admiration,

For the birds and the bees.

I mean that literally.

This environmentalist's name is Alex Dean.

He's a Wisconsin boy and that's where we met,

A class called Plants and Man, which I'll never forget.

Our professor shared his knowledge from different domains:

Salad dressing to cricket rules and drinking games.

If you asked me today, what the class was about,

I'd still respond, "I haven't figured it out."

It brought interesting people together at least;

We kept hanging out after the class was released.

Now you're in Minneapolis, where I used to live.

I bet you're loving the parks, the lakes, the people that give,

So much back to the land, trying to leave a small print,

Eating local, riding bikes in the summer and wint

er.

Haha. Yea, I'm sure,

It's a place for you that's going to open new doors,

All the doors leading you straight back outside,

So you can jump on your bike and keep enjoying the ride.

Alex Campbell

For a minute let me ramble,

About a guy named Alex Campbell.

He's not affiliated with the soup in a can though.

I raced cross country with him in school.

All the older girls loved him, thought he was cool.

He always had a smile on,

Ahead of the pack in mile one;

He was like a little brother to the team, seemed the guy was young.

But now he's growing up,

He's got a suit and tie job.

Good for him,

But I hope it never starts to rob

Him of that innocence,

Or I'd be on the fence,

If the job was worth the extra dollars and cents.

We need to stop making sense,

"Never for money, always for love."

If you don't know David Byrne,

Take a break to look him up.

Finding what you love to do is what growing up's about.

Alex, I hope someday, if not today, you'll say without a doubt,

That you're living in line with what makes you happy.

I swear I didn't mean for this poem to get sappy,

But it did.

Cuz I remember you as a kid.

Just keep your spirit as strong as your six pack is!

Alex Brito

Is an old amigo.

I remember hanging out with that eco chico.

We met at the Plaza, if I do recall.

Around the pool table, trying to sink the 8 ball.

He played tennis, so I gave him my number.

We played a few times before the end of summer.

He had a small turtle and bug collection,

But I didn't touch it for a fear of infection.

Alex is a Madisonian through and through,

Disk golf, morel picking and fishing too.

He's loyal to the Badgers and the Pack,

If he ever left Wisconsin, you know he'd be back.

The driftless black soil is under his nails,

He's a connoisseur of all the state's pale ales.

That's a guess, I'll admit.

But will you, readers permit

Me to make a few sound assumptions as I spit?

Like assuming he's still a super nice guy,

Or that in good weather, he's always outside?

I miss you Alex, but I know where to find you.

Hope to see you in Madison sometime soon!

Friday, June 10, 2016