Good Friends

I’m very fortunate to have some good friends because I’ve not been historically good at being a friend. Once I started identifying as an ADD-addled loner poet, cultivating relationships never really made it very high on my list of things to do. Yet while the constant inconsistency I’ve curated over my years of embellishing vagabond behavior hasn’t made me a lot of friends, the ones I have are very precious to me.

I did watch all ten seasons of the television show, and I think I’m pretty friendly, but when someone comes and asks me to write a poem about friendship, I have to ask what it means to them because otherwise it would just be conjecture. I mean, I do have a few nearly lifelong friends, like my friend Ken, who I met in elementary school, connected with a couple times decades later, stayed with a few years ago while I was in Seattle, and have barely spoken to since. But for the people who have people that they talk to everyday, or at least regularly, I don’t think they realize how blessed they really are, because that seems to be becoming more and more rare as people are embracing isolation.

Personally, I don’t know if I’m self aware enough to blame my own isolationism on the times my society is facing or on the depravity of my own personality, but I do recognize that I’m not the only one to overcome loneliness by embracing it. For a lot of people, the pandemic absolutely destroyed their social lives, but mine had never been that robust to begin with. I was fortunate to have a beautiful pandemic buddy for the first few months of the Covid scare, and she has since become one of my best friends, which means we hang out a few time a year. But since I’ve acclimated to solitude after so many years of it, I don’t think the pandemic had as negative effect on me as it may have for others. After all, I just went kayaking into Whitaker Bayou nearly every day.

I do cherish the times I spend with the friends that I have, and I appreciate knowing they’re there even when we’re out of touch. And lately, I’m getting more compelled to create more of those cherished times, not only because I need it, but because I think that we, as a people, need it. It’s wonderful that we have the tools that we do in the palms of their hands, but as I once heard someone say, if we’re not using these communicative devices to get into the same room with one another, we’re not using them properly.

So I hope you reach out to a friend today and spend a little time together in the world beyond screens. It doesn’t matter if it’s quality time or a quantity of time, it’s probably still a pretty good investment.

A GOOD FRIEND

Good times in life are wonderful

but they must come to an end

but you will never finish loving

when you’ve found yourself a friend

in time, they are created

in the moments that we spend

when you put them all together

you’ve got yourself a friend

they are made of many simple things

a few I can recommend

but this is what you’ll need

if you’re going to make a friend

start with a chat over coffee

and really listen, don’t pretend

you got to make the investment

if you really value your friend

then you do things you enjoy

and you may follow some trends

all sorts of fads may come and go

but you’ll always have your friends

you may go on some road trips

and overnights may spend

but the journey is so worth it

when you’ve made yourself a friend

so cherish those who love you

bad times you will transcend

to have one you must be one

so be sure to be a good friend

Share

Share

Thank you for supporting Rhyme and Reason. This publication has gone through some transmogrifications over the years, but I now offer a daily consideration of poetry and how it plays into the world we’re living in. They’re mostly poems I wrote, but if I run out, or if I’m otherwise compelled, I may use somebody else’s poem for inspiration… or I may just use plain old words.

I also do other stuff…

• I recently released a book called Jesus Said Stuff: Revisiting the Red Letters of Christ about all of the stuff Jesus said in the four gospels, and you can read it on my website for FREE.

• I perform a one-man show called Will Rogers Revived, based on the political humor of the only person in history to speak at both the Democratic and Republican conventions, who famously said, "I never met a man I didn't like."

• Since Will Rogers was the 1928 presidential candidate of the Anti Bunk Party and said that the party was just a hundred years ahead of times, I think we may need an Anti Bunk Party Revival in 2028.

• To create a more balanced economy, I think we need to institute ABC Squared Economics, a heart/mind/body/spirit approach that recognized the Artistry of our lives through the service of our Business , the engagement of our Citizenry, and the development of our Community.

• I’ve written several dozen songs and have a coloring book called A Group of Critters.

• If you sign up for my newsletter at www.stevemc.xyz, you get a free 11 minute 11 second guided chakra meditation.

I hope we connect somehow and somewhere.