Once Upon a Friendship

(For KM, upon the occasion of your 50th birthday)

 

upon meeting

pre-teen

I was the new girl

bookwormish and shy

hiding lonely heart

behind nerdy glasses

you – social butterfly

alit gently

on my spirit

I can still see

your tears drip

in geometric proof

of adolescence’s

torment

we forged a friendship

staked out among

Catholic school hallways

sealed with MadDog

in high school

80’s escapades

hilarity in hijinx

recolored in retelling

collegiate, we conspired

in wing-spreading

we were accomplices

in the shape-shifting

masquerade

now known as

adulting

our paths diverged

o’er years and miles

yet connected by

steel gossamer strands

stronger than shared

herstories

more durable

than Catholic guilt

we have stretched the limits

of our connection

find it tenacious

dependable

travail enduring

friend of my heart

now and forever

 

(art: Monica Stewart)