Life with Friends

A friend from the last chapter of my life calls to tell me of a new illness,

And it makes me wish I was there.

A friend from this chapter hugs me tight and tells me this isn’t her reality it’s someone else’s, learning of a new diagnosis for her partner.

And it makes me glad I happen to be right next door to help.

A friend who was fantasized to be something more at one time,

Pops up in a dream only to find that he has also been recently interpreting his own dreams.

This makes me remember why I admire his sensitivity inside his solidity.

An old friend who made me be hers by sheer persistence,

Turned into one of my dearest and deepest friends through so many chapters by now.

I hear the growth in our conversations and feel the struggles in our hearts

each time we talk, not afraid now to go further in bearing our souls.

Several states away now, a soul sister who shares my pining for living the fullest expression of life and not letting our lights be diminished as we grow older,

We keep the flame alive in our hearts by breathing fresh energy into one another’s spirits every time we talk.

My very oldest friend, the one who shared a lollipop with me on the sidewalk of cobblestoned streets when we were four,

Is the one that tethers me to those farthest memories of being little and innocent with perhaps only a few fears in the world.

We know that we know each other on a soul level that exists far beyond this lifetime,

That we have always been and will always be part of each other’s lives even if we don’t speak.

And those friends who very seldom expose their souls, but who remain strong as life gets harder.

There are even those friends who seem to be growing into the brightest version of themselves as they age finely, feeling freedom to express themselves more fully.

They each inspire me through their trials, triumphs, growth, and surrender.