Ballade For Dead Friends Poem by Mark Arvizu

Some have passed into eternity
Some are still here
There are many causes for our separation or enmity
The reasons are both hazy and clear
Fate decided for us not to continue
Then we took the final steps
As they go into the unknown
I lay their friendship to rest

He who spoke truth was usually me
With an open mind and listening ear
I withstood the tide of their hearts' raging
Guided them to shore and calmed their fear
Fate can be both cruel and kind
That we mistake for a lack of purpose
I throw it all into its breadth so wide
I lay their friendship to rest

But to those who went before their time
I tip my hat in respect
I can think of them well with a smile
Their memory I'll not neglect
With images too etched to pass
During moments both worst and best
Now knowing what I had
I lay their friendship to rest

I'm not one to visit often a family members' grave
Sit on the grass and muse about what I miss
So to those of whom fate has me now bereaved
I lay their friendship to rest