Close To Comfort

In the absence of your slowed down steps I keep to my daily walks Knowing there will be no more talks Between us I can conjure up your silly laugh Remembering how were two shipwrecked souls Stranded on the same island Invisible to the mainland In called to tell you I was moving home Your enthusiasm greeted me The way two old friends Unexpectedly find each other In a crowd We made pinky promises To resurrect the past And spend stolen time Among the quiet of library books Me reading the daily newspapers to you In a hushed voice But time had other plans And before I could completely unpack You were gone Not to another town Or a place of chosen reclusion But GONE Really gone I wrote your eulogy And delivered it with resolve I would not let your goodness go unheralded The pain of parting so intense And I struggled to smile In all the right places But now I realize there are few right places Where your memory does not tap me on the shoulder