Defining Friendship - Expanded
Does it mean we are friends if I mirror your thoughts,
That we like the same jokes or our politics sing
A conventional melody?
Does the ground shake (we stand on) when boundaries slip,
When emotional dams burst, magnetic fields flip
As convection cells drift and my South becomes North
Or your North becomes South? Are we free men or slaves
To this pledge (we call pulchritude)?
Can men flagellate dreams, say they're Communist plots,
And expect friends won't wince when hearts' lashes all sting
And all venom births malady!
Are you living your faith when you say, "Black is white!"
That, "Abortion is murder!" You claim it's your right
Then to murder abortionists. Newborns have worth
That eclipses the mom's? Sad, it seems some enclaves
Think a mom's death's more platitude.
Graced to think what you will, I pray God gives you grace,
But get out of my face for no faith is divine
And I won't bow to perfidy!
God knows liars and fools hope to mitigate end!
When you judge, you're sin's voice, but you want to pretend
That you better serve God by imposing your will
On a girl or a wife (some with husbands and kids)
That the 'Right' judge man's property.
Let me fear that you're wrong but not judge and there's space
For a friendship to prosper! If I may opine
To you, this is God's remedy!
You're my brother in sin, let me love you in spite
Of your failings or mine, be a friend, a bright kite
That floats over the fray, pledge my friendship until
My string breaks, I'm destroyed! Friend's ship skids
But survives man's frail infamy!
Though all days start without you, my poetry lives
With each breath that I take, all are friendships from past,
That outlive (their bard’s ignorance)!
Though at times I might curse them, each friend is God's gift!
Not one choice a man makes can get killed (no short shrift
Is sufficient). Stained thoughts from my past steel the spine
Of my present, supporting what good I may do.
May I choose to canoodle them.
Yes, each friendship in life's an adventure that gives
Though its gift's unrequited, by grace, it can last
In the face of indifference!
A true friend is the one who responds when you call,
Who reveres your successes and prays when you fall,
Saves a seat at his table (no need to divine
You are welcome, in fact, or his mercy's your due)!
Friendship's gift, not from deference!
Long Tooth
February 24th in 2020
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