Letter to a Friend

   That night you came back into town

And saw me combing the city up and down

For drugs to distract my restless brain

You said it made you feel ashamed.

You said you hardly knew me then

And you weren’t about to have a junky for a friend

You severed ties with me that night,

Unburdening yourself from my lonely plight

And in a single instant nothing remained,  

Years of drunken laughter down the drain.

I am not the same, this much is true

It seems each year I get a little more blue 

And the worst part is these drugs I do 

they just don't get me high the way they used to. 

Yes, it’s safe to say I am doing pretty bad

At the end of each day I am always a little sad

But there is a change in you too

That I would like to speak of,

Which is the hollowness in your heart

I once misconstrued for love.  

For you turned away from me that night

With a callousness that can only be called an art

Renting out the parking space I used to park in

A few feet from your fickle heart.

So go on your way, our days of laughter are done

Your memories like pebbles I toss one by one

Into a river gilded by a glossy sun. 

Watch as they sink beneath the brine

To be entangled by the sunless reeds for all time

Silently enfolded and forever lost

Buried with the millions of severed loves that too were tossed

By bitter lovers whose hearts were nailed to a bitter cross.

So stick close to the people who stay in the sun 

And crowd your life with only the best,

The ones who naturally breed success,

Cautious and prudent, careful with money

And if a joke’s too mean they won’t find it funny.

And they’ll never drink to get drunk for fear they’ll act boldly,

And they can never find time on their schedule to ever feel lonely,

with thoughts forever fixed on pay-raises and pensions, 

fortifying them from anxiety or depression, 

And they will Lift you up on the days you feel down

They are Lifeguards of Life’s Worries, you will never drown.

And you’ll never fall apart or wake up in a ditch

You’ll never have a wound that can’t be stitched

And You’ll only have two drinks if it’s your turn to drive

And no matter how good the honey is, you’ll stay away from the Hive.  

And you’ll never stumble and you’ll never fall

You’re too smart to act reckless

You refuse credit cards at every Mall  

Oh yes, In life’s ceaseless battles, you will win every bout

and you'll never risk being dragged down

For not once will your hand be reaching out….