oK
i haven't seen you for awhile dear friend
but i want you to know i value the times we've had
our paths may not cross again
we may never have new experiences together
for whatever reasons
we drift apart or we have chosen we've had enough
of each other's company
i may never see you again
but that is oKay.
i had an old friend who recently passed
he called me by a name used by and known only to a few
a name associated with the past
when i saw him again on his death bed after many years
i met the cheery face of a dying man who had accepted the end
waving both his hands above his head to greet
as a sign of surrender but also as victory of a life lived
you then called me by that name
and i couldn't help but feel heavy in my chest
a feeling of both warmth and pain
i bit down on my tongue when you recalled your memories of us
they reminded me of a happier time gone by
bright parts of my childhood overshadowed by trying years
years of what my brain chose to focus on
these early and grand times usually too far away to recall, but not with you
a happiness i could only nod in agreement to, with tears welling into a pool
you mentioned my brother and entrusted me to say hello to him
i bit down even more and tasted a saltiness in my mouth
you spoke of a memory too young for me to remember
when us three would squat in front of my life-size plastic playhouse
a place of play, of innocence, of simpler times
i finally let the tears fall on this memory i realized i should own as well
and now i do
you reached for my grasp and i held your soft hands tightly
fighting and speaking through tears of your own
you let me know i was not supposed to cry
but i was the only one who made you do so
waterfalls of tears even more
i spoke very little throughout and just let you remember
our time was short, but it was all we needed
when we parted, i said "i will see you later"
before you departed, i never did see you again
but that is oKay.
because i know that you are.