The Friends We Had Back Then Poem by Jim Yerman

I noticed my old high school yearbook on the shelf where it has stood
for many years and when I opened it I thought…it smelled like childhood.

Browsing through its pages…much to my delight
I found myself and many old friends…looking good in black and white.

Most of the faces I remember…some I did not know.
Moments captured for eternity from a time long, long ago.

There was Rollie, there was Marilyn, there was me…and Joe and John
We spent many moments together…and then in a moment…we were gone.

Gone on to our futures…wondering what we might find…
excited at the possibilities…grateful for the friends we left behind…

I did not know back then…(I was much too young to see)
how the people in my yearbook…would help determine who I'd be.

I had no way of knowing…(I was as yet unaware)
that I wouldn't be standing where I am today
If I hand't been standing there.

Standing with my childhood friends
friends who somehow found a way
to help transform the boy I was
into the man I am today.

I wonder… isn't that true for many of us
as we visit our yearbooks once again?
For where would we all be today…
without the friends we had back then.