Sits the guitar upon its stand
awaiting player's gentle hand
to strum the chords and coax the songs
knowing well how it responds.
In silence now, how still the strings,
and yet, your words are echoing...
no one who’s loved is ever gone
in each of us, their song lives on.
We weren’t that close, you and I.
Not really, not in the scheme of things.
Though we knew each other all our lives,
you were always someone who
skated on the outskirts of my existence:
small town, same schools, mutual friends.
Eventually we both moved away
moving onward and outward to live life.
We would bump into each other
on those occasions when we were called back
to relive our high school memories;
or in those moments of mutual celebration or loss.
I never told you how much your kind words meant
during my own loss; how they felt like a warm arm
around my shoulder; a gentle reminder
that even in distance we are not alone.
No, we really weren’t that close,
but in a sense you’ve always been there
somewhere on the edge, on the periphery.
Two kids who shared a certain kinship...
And I am better for the knowing of you.
© Ginny (Karpinski) Brannan 2024
Godspeed, my friend...
