Jim Died Today!
“Around the corner I have a friend
In this great city that has no end;
Yet days go by, and weeks rush on,
And before I know it a year has gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well
As in the days I rang his bell,
And he rang mine. We were younger then,
And now we’re busy, tired men;
Tired with playing a foolish game,
Tired with trying to make a name.
‘Tomorrow,’ I say, I’ll call on Jim,
Just to show that I’m thinking of him.’
But tomorrow comes, and tomorrow goes,
And the distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner — and yet miles away…
‘Here’s a telegram, sir… Jim died today.’
And that’s what we get, and deserve in the end
Around the corner, a vanished friend.”