Forever Friend Poem by David Harris

For Mike Bird
1943 - 2005
My forever friend.

I never though I’d have to say
The words I did over you
As they lowered you slowly into the ground
But there was one else
To say them, only me.
We’d been friends
For over forty years
At times we were almost brothers
Many happy Christmases you spent with my wife and me.
You became part of our extended family
You were an only child
and when your parents passed away
We befriended each other
During troubles and hardships
Through the years that came our way
Our friendship was strong
Even when for some reason or another
We didn’t see each other for a while
We never argued or raised our voices
Whenever we disagreed
Which I recall, wasn’t often
I remember you only getting heated
When some publisher rejected me
Saying “The fools, can’t they see.”
They were my failures, but you took them to heart.
Whenever you succeeded
I was first to congratulate you
I am so proud to have had you as my friend
Words can’t express the sorrow that I felt
When they said you had gone
I wanted to be on my own
Go somewhere and cry
Unfortunately responsibilities made me pass that by
Your cousins all the time you were alive
They stayed away from you
Didn’t even want you in their homes
Then they heard you were dying
Out of the wood work they came
To see what they could get
Oh, what a shame
They never knew
You didn’t have a penny to your name
He wasn’t religious they proclaimed
So no priest was sought
We gathered in the chapel
Only seven people came
Someone read a eulogy
But they didn’t know the real you
And that was that
I was asked to say a few words
As they lowered your coffin into the ground
With a lump in my throat, eyes full of tears
In a voice choked and low
I asked God to look after and protect
Your immortal soul
I held your wake at my house
Where you had spent so many happy times
I talked about you to your cousins
And they found out more about you
Than they ever knew
When they left and I was alone with my thoughts
I said a silent prayer for you
You my forever friend

26-27 Jan 2007