Keeping Friends Like These Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

It's important to have friends.
Not just associates...
But true friends.

The ones that will tell you,
What you don't want to hear...
Regardless of your fears.
The ones who are upfront,
And share what is on their minds.
The ones you might have disagreements with...
From time to time.

It's important to have friends.
The ones you can count on through thick and thin.
The ones who are around,
When marriages and relationships come to an end.
The ones who are there...
Caring with a warm shoulder in your despair.
The ones who refuse to choose,
To compare their blues...
As if they can and have walked in your shoes.

But true friends who can be found...
To lift you up when you are down.
Friends like this...
Know when you need them around!
And no one has to ask them to leave...
When you've become impossible to please.
Keeping friends like these,
Is to your benefit!