My poem “Stan” has been published by Muddy River Poetry Review.  Here is the poem

Stan

He looked as if
he’d never caught a break,
worn through—in need of a shave
and a shower
and a hundred other things
only money could buy.
His lifeless eyes looked through me.
The knife was real enough.

“Junkie,”
I thought.

He recognized me first.
“Potsy,” he said softly,
using a nickname
I hadn’t heard in years.
“Stan—Stan the man,”
my voice rippled with relief.
Stan held every record
in high school track—
it was a wonder
to watch him run.
He joined the Rangers
right out of school—
Nixon sent him to Nam.

He lowered the knife
and there, on an unlit
street corner in lower Manhattan,
we shot the shit about the old days—
of Brownsville and the guys.

We didn’t pretend
we’d stay in touch.
To see him on his way
I emptied my wallet
and gave him thirty one dollars—
it would help him
do up once or twice.
The twelve hundred bucks
I earned in that night’s poker game
stayed hidden in my shoes.

I hailed a cab on East Broadway,
and had it take me
the four blocks home.
It wasn’t until I
climbed the stairs
and flipped on the light
that I began to shake.

And the link:

https://www.muddyriverpoetryreview.com/