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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/book “Question Everything” cc&d, v280 (the February 2018 issue) Order this as a 6"x9" paperback book:

enjoy this writing from David J. Thompson along with photography by Mark Myavec in the free 6" x 9" 2018 PDF file chapbook: “It Might Be Serious This Time” (click the cover image or the title for the free PDF file)				Order this as a 2018 6" x 9" perfect-bound ISBN# book with poems and photography! Click on the book cover to order It Might Be Serious This Time as a book at any time!

Order this writing in the issue book Across the Wall the cc&d May-Aug. 2018 issues & chapbooks collection book		get the 372 page May-Aug. 2018 cc&d magazine issue collection 6" x 9" ISBN#035; paperback book:

How’s He Doing These Days?

David J. Thompson

Did you go to Riverton College?
a voice asks. I look up
from the new arrivals table,
then down at my chest to check
what t-shirt I’m wearing.
I realize it’s the woman at the register
with the long gray braid and
clean scrubbed face who’s talking
to me. Yes, I tell her, class of 1978.
Oh, she says, then did you know
a guy named Gary Watkins?
I think for a second, scratch
the back of my head, then suddenly,
Yes, I answer, smiling, nodding.
Skinny red-haired guy we called Waddy.
That’s him, she tells me.
I used to play Frisbee with him
on the quad, I continue stepping closer
to her. He could throw a Frisbee
like nobody I’ve ever seen.
Yes, she replies. He was my boyfriend
in high school back on Long Island.
Jesus, that’s so weird, I say.
How’s he doing these days?
Oh, she says, and I see her shoulders sag.
He’s dead, died a few years ago
walking up some stairs at work.
The doctors said he had a bad heart.
We stare at each other silently
for a few seconds. A customer comes
between us, puts some books on the counter.
I go back to browsing, pick a book
off the shelf, but all I can think about
is how far Waddy could throw a Frisbee
and how when the breeze caught it just right,
you thought it would never come down.

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