Friendship!

In the early years, things were different.
We lived within walking distance,
We’d talk from time to time.

We’d sit and work together and gossip on our breaks.
Dynamic Duo,
They called us.

For a few years, we scarcely talked at all.
The plague times
Were hard on everyone.

Then,
Suddenly,
I made us neighbors again.

A ten minute drive between us
Brought us closer
Than ever.

Those were the years I needed you most.
Countless hours, circling the labyrinth of my own mind…
You listened.

You stayed at my house on hard nights.
You balanced the pressures of your life with mine.
You kept me attached to Earth,

To humanity.

It’s been a few years, now.
We’re far apart again,
But something else has changed, too.

Last night, we talked for three and a half hours.
You started the call with dark circles in your eyes, and
Ended it chatty as ever.

There was a moment in that call
Where my heart felt so full and humbled.
‘She needs me.’

After those years,
Spent desperately needing you,
It was a privilege to return the favor.

People say “Community is inconvenient.”
I didn’t feel burdened, though.
I felt

Valued.