Friendship is...

remembering a time when everyone was younger
and not minding so much
that back then, he "accidentally"
stole the chipped chain necklace
that you kept hidden in your room.

It's staring down into the eyes of
the idiot who just lifted you up by the crotch like a forklift
and thinking
someday this will be funny.

It's sucking up pain and letting it flow
under a shower in a far too public bathroom
where you are never certain if your clothes or towel
will still be there when you're finished
and laughing in the fear that you may soon
shamefully walk naked down the hall towards your safety
only to find your bedroom door locked.

It's quiet words and wise silences
that were purchased by chance
and forged into lives.

It's again sitting together,
casting our words out into the ocean,
as grace falls
like a slinky
down old and dusty stairs.