My Best Friend Poem by Lowe Loup

I met you on my seventh birthday,
two months after yours.
We grew up together on the beach,
Crashing headlong into the surf.

And as I learned games you learned them too,
chasing every kind of ball across the yard
until we both collapsed panting on the ground.

I watched you slow down-
trading our romps for long walks
and more mature nights at home.

You watched me leave for school,
each time not knowing how long I would be gone.
But always treating me like a prodigal son.

I watched the tumors spread across your body-
But I left again after each summer.
Taking for granted that I’d always have my friend.

I heard my dad’s voice break on the phone.
Not for you, but for what he knew it would do to me,
Knowing I wasn’t there with you.

He knew 91 years is a long time for a friendship-
even if it was only 13 for me.

Now everyone always says they understand,
or how to move on and forget,
but they can keep their rainbow bridge.

What do they know about our friendship anyway?