Visiting Jon Poem by LONDIS CARPENTER

I went to visit Jon today;
I went to see if he could play.
We've been best friends since he was four
And I only a few years more.
It was too early, I could see,
To wake up Johnny's family
By knocking loudly on the door,
Or calling at his own window.
I waited just inside the shed,
Thinking of things to do instead;
Until we took our Sunday spin
(My home-made bike; his brand new Schwinn) .
I made a little too much noise
Looking through all of Johnny's toys,
Thinking it must feel awfully fine
To have such things, all of them mine.
I heard a voice quite calm and clear,
"Richard, what are you doing here? "
"Waiting for Jon, " was my reply.
I hoped he couldn't see me cry.
His father's voice faded away
With my visions of yesterday
And when he spoke the dream was gone;
But Jon's memories live on and on.
If Jon still lived today he'd be
Ninety years old, I ninety-three.
I went to visit Jon today;
I went to see if he could play.