Our friendship has always been my North Star The guide to everything out there And when we lost touch I lost my compass I sealed the wound with fire And trudged on with desire Trying to recreate what we had The effortless close bond, over time becoming sad People did not meet me half way They did not grasp the world the same way And so a small boat adrift I was Alone bereft for me And that became my norm And a new me for a time was born I did not want to be close Relationships made me morose Pleasure was all I sought To dampen grief and doubt And that way I existed For a long time just sort of delisted Artimus born Few wants, no needs Completely free and no nervous energy It’s calm to withdraw To view life as a brawl that you no longer engage And then I hit tastes of want And it became need And I tried again And did not succeed So I settled and I slept Most of me to myself I kept And then once again you were here And well with joy I could interact without fear And so I started again to create And life is not over, it’s not to late And here we are And here we are to my North Star - Artimus (C) Susan Manley 8/21/23 for Alan