I’ve been asked
What’s a friend
How do you
Know who is
Or even which
One could be
A friend is
A favorite book
That you’ve read
A dozen times
That you quote
In troubling times
That book that
Somehow is always
Reached for or
Lands in your
Lap or bed
Those characters and
Those stories and
Those adventures that
Make you believe
There is something
More than you
They’re the last
Person that you
Think about as
You fall asleep
Dreaming of them
You’re a man
A young man
On his way
To being a
Man who’s on
His way to
Being a gentleman
No more bicycles
No more sandlots
Just your character
And your word
And your promise
That you will
Be the best
The absolute best
You can be
At everything tried
Because no man
Ever does less
It’s not important
How we love
Each other or
When we love
Each other or
Even why we
Love each other
What is important
Is that we
Love each other
Like the fall
That slipped
Into the winter
You and I
Suffered our first
Hard freeze frost
We were surprised
Having to build
Fires and make
Shanty’s around what
We once were
This winter would
Either bring us
Closer or force
Us to leave
Each other surviving
But we knew
That our warmth
Was doubled together
Now I know
How small an
Inch feels having
Been reduced to
That upon hearing
About you and
Him and him
And him and
Him and him
And with each
Him and him
What was left
Of me was
Pummeled into a
One inch piece
Of scrap metal
Of no value
Even to me
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 