Simple way to lose a friend | poem
poetry
The process is never complete,
done through a fall out
over who’s right or wrong.
A confession, shared publicly
over drinks, even though they promised
not to mention it, forgivable.
It’s not lazy politics that inspires one
to label another, far left or right. Nope
forgetting a birthday, being on time
for once in their life, isn’t quite it
either. Even though common let downs
pile up like dung, it is understood—
sometimes it takes mess to grow.
It’s the absent phone call to check in
a lack of initiative by one, over another.
The silence becomes your weekly
conversation. Unspoken words
fill space and time like winter.
Until one day, you realise
it’s been so many days
since they even tried.
Experiences, drip away
like a faucet over time.
Two boys on the swings in a park, come spring.
A couple of beers watching footy, talking girls.
It’s easy to lose a friend, all it takes
is doing nothing
and saying nothing more about it.
My wife (who just so happens to also be my best friend) requires two things. A birthday card and a valentine card. Nothing special, I can even pick it up at a Dollar General if I am low on money. We have been together over 25 years, and she always gets her cards. She stands it up in the middle of the kitchen bar so everyone can see. So, everyone can see that I care. The cards have gotten fancier over the years, but I also hear "Why can't I get a card?" Never take your friends for granted, even the ones you live with.