Friends

Sarah Russell

My poem “Friends” was published today by Poetry Breakfast. My thanks to Editor Kay Kestner.

I heard her story on the plane from Pittsburgh
to LA, smiled politely, shut my laptop, listened,

nodded. She was going to meet a childhood friend,
discovered on Facebook after sixty years. I walked

with her to the terminal, took her arm on the escalator,
felt her excitement and her faltering age.

When they saw each other, arms reached out,
and I was forgotten in their greeting. They didn’t hug,

but held the other’s face gentle in their hands,
tears in their eyes. There would be time for memories,

photos of children and grandchildren, husbands now dead.
But for now, they stood close, reading lifetimes in lines

and furrows—refuge, intimacy, secrets and confessions,
first kisses and heartbreak. I searched my mind for a friend

like that, someone so close we’d need no words if we
should meet again. Then I headed toward baggage claim.

16 thoughts on “Friends”

    1. Thanks so much for reposting my poem and for your kind words. I’ve been on a kind of hiatus for the past year or so (Covid depression – not the virus, just the ennui), but I’m starting to submit again. Got a couple acceptances, so you’ll see more postings in the coming months.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  8. Pingback: Poetry Blog Digest 2023, Week 17 – Via Negativa

Leave a reply to thereluctantpoet Cancel reply