....Someone....She Needed....To Call Poem by James B. Earley

.....Upon receiving....that medical diagnosis
Choosing me as someone she needed to call...
The friendship we knew even stronger it grew
...That memory....one of the most cherished of all

Communicating....angst...of the moment
A recorded message her method of choice
"I've just discovered my illness is terminal"
...Softly sobbing - trembling....of voice

Years....of anguish....I've languished
Pained memories constant the curse...
Sensing transgression in not being able to lessen
.....That aching.....of a friend.....at its worse

Be that as my curse there's nothing more troubling
.....Than the loss....of a long-time friend.....
There's a constant reminder always I find her
...It's that portrait....I'm cradling....within

The friendship we knew even greater it grew
Her death...one of the most challenging of all
....Once...she'd received....that painful diagnosis
Then choosing me...as someone she needed...to call


Author's note:
Dedicated to Mary Azevedo,13 March 1947 - 2 June 2005; long-time Administrative Assistant to Robert Mondavi.

There were three dedicated cell phone connections, through which I might have been readily contacted. Yet she chose, for whatever reason, to leave the voicemail message, instead.