Combined two prompts today: the topic/theme “friends 4 eva” from @beausia and the form of an anaphora from NaPoWriMo.net. The result is both a fond recollection of my best childhood friends and a sadness at the way life can stretch those bonds so thin. I’m grateful for those friends, most of whom I consider more like family, who can pick up right where we left off with no stress, no guilt, no shame for the time in between our first and last hello. I have been unusually blessed to collect lifelong friends at every phase of my life and in almost every job I’ve had. So lucky, so lucky, so lucky. It has made all the difference.

xo, adrienne

friends 4 eva

in case you don’t hear from me,

send me a smoke signal 

from the firepit in your backyard

where i first told you the secret

 

in case you break our pinkie swear,

our last will and testament is in the yellow notebook

in the back of my closet,

you can still have all my clothes

 

in case i pick the wrong fork in the road,

bring me a map and a mixtape

and some snacks from Maloney’s

for the trip back to where you knew me best

 

in case i lose my happy

remind me how much i love the clouds

and leaves and flowers,

remind me i like it here on Earth

 

in case we miss some milestones

those benchmarks of a life well lived

know i see them all and every one

makes me proud to call you friend

 

in case we grow apart,

cause life kept moving on,

know that i think of you every so often

and the years we spent as sisters

and brothers and family