Walking Beside You

A poem for an old friend.

Walking Beside You

 

We lazily walked down

The entire length, of our favorite

Street, halted briefly to buy some cigarettes

Left our memory with the shopkeeper

in the form of

Used match sticks.

 

Halted abruptly at the bridge

Admired the canopies of its neighboring oaks

And counted the departing lapwings

As if we had five directions on each hand

 

You asked me if I was normal

I calmly smiled and ignored

The very crux of your confusion

 

We were only seventeen

And still trying to understand

The value of the more boring things in life

 

I remember how your hair

Would speak to the wind

When you forgot to tie it in the morning

 

Then you would ask me to recite

Your childhood lyric

And we’d make a mockery of our existence

 

Those days I remembered how to smile

Instantly, without stimulus

When we would sprint over the bridge

And trip carelessly onto the lakeshore

 

But

These days I’ve forgotten what it is

To walk beside you

Ever since you found a better companion

 

In the hands of a wheelchair.

Reviews

[Gandré]

I remember how your hair

Would speak to the wind

When you forgot to tie it in the morning-------------this is beautiful. Very innocent small tale with surprising twist.. the end was like slap into my face and then I finally have woken up. Thanks for stepping by and leaving me words.

[Ishan Sadwelkar]

Thank you.
Certain situations in life.
Become-
Rather out of control.

[Jenny Nelson]

An excellent piece! Wonderfully descriptive and heartfelt. Very touching.

[Nirmala]

What a touching and moving poem. I enjoyed the details that wove the friendship and the common things that make routine...and then the change that challenges all that is taken for granted! I specially liked the line 'Those days I remembered how to smile Instantly, without stimulus'. Enriching.