"Friends"A Poem by PenManShepThis is my first attempt at spoken word. It is about a childhood friend.“Friends” I met Randy on a lazy summer day, sitting atop and
straddling his gate. He was to become my first true friend as the chains rattled
from the shifting of his weight. His parents owned the farm across the street, ten acres of fenced
freedom with cows, peacocks, and chickens. To call him was long distance. Not because of the vast distance between us, but because the
city line parted the red dirt road upon which I sat tossing red dirt clods to
pass my time. We started our friendship playing baseball and swinging
clubs in the sandpit on his property. He was a sports fan, football, soccer, golf, wresting,
anything for competition. I remember one day going to his house to play and his “friends”
were over playing football. As I ran into his barbed wire yard, passing through carefully
as to not snag my secondhand clothes or rip my flesh his “friends” looked my
way, but he didn’t. This was the first time I noticed the ones he called “friends”
were not mine and neither was Randy when they were around. I was a piece that didn’t fit the puzzle, a wino at a tea
party, a tattered cloth among fine linen. To be alone seemed to be the sum of all his fears, so when I
left to beat the porch light home, he would throw red dirt covered rocks and choke
out tears. I did the same as he did in my mind when he turned me away
for his real “friends,” throwing red chunks of bitterness and gushing sadness
on the inside for his loneliness and mine. I went over for a visit one day and to my chagrin I saw a birthday party about to begin, “friends” tossing the ball again. Not wanting to show up without a gift, I ignored the hurtful
scratches of the barbed wire fence once again and ran back home to find an
offering from my things. Upon my return I handed him my secondhand gift and he handed
me a gift of shame and avoidance. His mom invited me to go with them to the arcade where I
ended up playing games alone as I did at his home when his “friends” were around. Enter Mason, a person who considered me friend and Randy was
the other kid. We played together, Randy included, but now he was the tea
man at a wino’s party, the mismatched patch of cloth among fine linen, my
“friend.” I don’t recall how long we included him in our games as he
faded out of my thoughts without a single red stone hurled or tear down my cheek.
Many years went by and I do not recall whether Randy was
lonely or busy with his “friends.” As an adult I called him because I still remembered his
phone number as I do to this day. I wanted to know if he found peace and friendship over the
years. My call came nine years after he traded drinking from his teacup
for buckshot from the end of a barrel. To this day I wonder if his “friends” or his friend, was a
part of the concluding chapter of his story, or was there someone or something
else hurling red chunks of dirt at him as he tried to beat the porchlight home
only to be brought down steps away from freedom ….by a crack to the head. © 2020 PenManShepReviews
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2 Reviews Added on February 27, 2020 Last Updated on March 4, 2020 AuthorPenManShepRapid City, SDAboutI am a high school special education teacher who teaches Reading and Language Arts to students with varying skill levels. more..Writing
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