In Memoriam:
John Arndt
Friend, Playwright, Actor, Poet,
SoFloPoJo Associate Editor
John Arndt was, in all respects, a Renaissance Man. Born to a brick mason in Pipestone, Minnesota, John was his high school's star football player, who later earned a degree in Theater, becoming a playwright and actor, who both studied and drank with, Tennessee Williams. Johnny was also a poker player (whose poker buddies included Bruce Willis,) a sheet-rock schlepper in Portland, MN., a closet installer in N.Y.C., and, my best friend for over half my life.
When Ulysses S. Grant was asked about his friendship with George Tecumseh Sherman, Grant replied, we are friends - I stand by him when he's crazy, he stands by me when I'm drunk. Few friendships have compasses so reliable, they locate and maintain such stable ground. Ours did; and for that, I shall be forever grateful and blessed.
-Stacie M. Kiner
When Ulysses S. Grant was asked about his friendship with George Tecumseh Sherman, Grant replied, we are friends - I stand by him when he's crazy, he stands by me when I'm drunk. Few friendships have compasses so reliable, they locate and maintain such stable ground. Ours did; and for that, I shall be forever grateful and blessed.
-Stacie M. Kiner
The Speed of Light
by John Arndt
I clutch at you like precious bits of tender
Gems fallen into hand by chance
Caught on the sleeve of happenstance
To lose you all at once and forever by simple neglect
In that push through the crippled bones of disappointment
Everything moves on, into distance and gone
You remain apart to fill slack and tattered sails
Gust of laughter, whisper of touch, full blown gale of comprehension
Years pass, moments collide, collect in the shadows
Fester and evolve into monstrous knowledge
Barbed sorrow travels lifetimes, into decadence
Deeper into the drunken darkness of failure
Further still to the dregs of what will never be
You will find me there, in that gloom
With a bottle and a dream
Crying out for what can not be given
Holding on to the thing that was taken
Waiting for light that moves too slow
by John Arndt
I clutch at you like precious bits of tender
Gems fallen into hand by chance
Caught on the sleeve of happenstance
To lose you all at once and forever by simple neglect
In that push through the crippled bones of disappointment
Everything moves on, into distance and gone
You remain apart to fill slack and tattered sails
Gust of laughter, whisper of touch, full blown gale of comprehension
Years pass, moments collide, collect in the shadows
Fester and evolve into monstrous knowledge
Barbed sorrow travels lifetimes, into decadence
Deeper into the drunken darkness of failure
Further still to the dregs of what will never be
You will find me there, in that gloom
With a bottle and a dream
Crying out for what can not be given
Holding on to the thing that was taken
Waiting for light that moves too slow