Cool Friendship

A poem by James Nicola

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Cool friendship with someone who fills you up

with thought 

                      delightful yet unbearable 

and feeling ranging from lukewarm to bold

and hot 

                may start to fill a loving cup

but tea that’s old and iced tastes terrible

with every sip as stale as it is cold 

James B. Nicola is the author of eight collections of poetry, the latest three being Fires of Heaven: Poems of Faith and Sense, Turns & Twists, and Natural Tendencies. His nonfiction book Playing the Audience: The Practical Actor’s Guide to Live Performance won a Choice magazine award. He has received a Dana Literary Award, two Willow Review awards, Storyteller's People's Choice award, one Best of Net, one Rhysling, and eleven Pushcart nominations—for which he feels stunned and grateful. A graduate of Yale, James hosts the Writers' Roundtable at his library branch in Manhattan: walk-ins are always welcome.