Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Poetry of Friendship

someecards.com - If you ever disappeared while hiking, I'd remain with the search party until it started raining

Recently I took some food to my oldest friend who had been laid up by her first horse accident in almost 40 years of owning horses.  Our conversation was the same one we had when we were ten years old, and sixteen, and forty.  Over the course of an afternoon we shared our latest book finds, we continued in our ongoing quest to straighten out in our minds the geneology chart of British monarchs (the Tudors always trip us up), and we talked about our dogs past and present.  We occasionally digressed to the aches and pains of midlife, our children, and household maintenance, but our conversation traveled easily back and forth across the decades of our friendship.

Friendship comes in all shapes
Photobucket 

The Poetry of Friendship

Friendship is a poem
Wrapped up in metaphors.
I, like you
You, like me
We are alike but different

Ancient bonds are marked like
   the brevity of poetry.
Few words say much.
We dig below the layers
And see yesterday’s four-year old as well as
   the fifty-year old today
We unpack each other’s symbols
And understand the essence, the deep down
  meaning.

The rhythm of the relationship sashays,
It swoops and twirls, turns toward then turns away
   and back again.
The free verse of youth concedes to iambic pentameter
   of settled lives.
It leaves us breathless
but remains until we are breath no more

Poet has reader
You have me
I, Thou.

Again, another good topic prompted by Write on Edge.  How old is your oldest friendship?  What object would you use to describe friendship?  Tell me a story about signs of a true friend or that told you one was false.  Let’s make friends in the comments box today.

How many of you still have friends you made when you were 4-years old?  Here's me (on the left) with my oldest.
In our minds, we're still only in kindergarten.
 2/1/12-friendship3

10 comments:

Annette Gendler said...

Sadly, I don't have friends anymore from my grade school days, but even so, I have some really wonderful "old" friends from college and it is amazing to be able to look back together, and yet be talking about the same things we were talking about then.

Gina said...

How lucky you are to have some many friends from the early period of you life. Mine are from high school, more from college. Love that you can just chat, catch up and cover so much ground with your friend from age four.

Anonymous said...

My best friend has been with me since we were four. Preschool to forever, and nothing has ever stood between us. Not her drug addiction (thankfully now a past tense experience), not my bipolar, not our crazy families. That bond is so powerful. May you be friends forever.

ruth.the.writer said...

I have a few friends from kindergarten left in my circle of friends. We were fortunate enough to graduate together, too! My closest friend, however, is the one I met in Algebra class when we were in ninth grade. Now in our early fifties, we have shared joy and heartache. She's one of the few I would defend with my life and I know she would do the same for me. For me, her friendship is like a blanket-one of those soft, cuddly ones warm from the dryer.

Anonymous said...

I find women's friendships to be a fascinating and complex topic. Recently I reconnected with a good friend from junior high and high school, and it was a powerful experience. We had much to catch up on, but the friendship had never died.

Having moved a lot, both during my school years and afterwards, I have had many friends along the way, but few enduring relationships such as the ones you and others have described on this blog. Friendships go along great, but then peter out after a period of years. I also know someone who had a 25+ year friendship that just ended -- and she was devastated. I have wondered if it's easier to maintain friendships that are solidified during the formative years. I'm actually reading about this topic because I'm starting to form another idea for a novel.

I feel as though I'm rambling, but your post came along at a timely moment, and I have a lot to think about and research. Thanks!

Carrie Daws said...

We moved so much growing up that I lost track of a lot of friends. Even the few I still know the location of, we're not that close. Over the last 10 years or so, I've been working on that some, although the military definitely makes it challenging. If we're not moving, our friends are!

Brenda said...

I absolutely LOVE THIS. Since starting to write the book (now finished) I only have 2.5 friends left, all the other ones (not fond of writing) gave up on me. I suppose if I manage to see the book through publishing, become world famous and live on a Yacht, those friends who dumped me might try to find me again but by then I will best buddies with Oprah, etc. :-)

Julie Farrar said...

Brenda, I understand that 2.5 friends thing. The truest ones are the ones who are still there when you finally look up from your crisis or passion or life hiccup and say "Welcome back."

Unknown said...

Very nice. Certainly tells the tale of true friendship. Your friend from SheWrites Blogger.

Anonymous said...

I love this! I have dear friends that range from meeting in third grade to college to a few years ago. I cherish each one, but the person I've known for nearly 40 years, who has shared every up and down with me, holds an especially dear place in my heart. No matter when you become friends, female friends will always be the best.

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