Best Friends

Best Friends

I was five when I met
Yvonne
The girl across the road
Who became my very first
Best friend.
For twelve years
This friendship lasted
Until sadly at only
Sweet Sixteen
You lost your battle
Against leukaemia.
So cruel to have you
Ripped from our lives
Saddened that I didn’t get the chance
For a final goodbye.

Years on, a grown woman
Another
Best friend
A soul mate, I thought
As well as my name twin
Anne.
Our friendship ended
when you betrayed
My trust in you.
My sense of hurt
Was so profound
I could not forgive.
I wonder sometimes,
What you are doing now.

With the sad reality
Of my divorce
I lost a great deal of friends, too.
Those who turned their backs
When their support
Would have meant the world.
Those who never picked up the phone
Never sent a letter, a card or an email
To ask how I was doing.
Saddest of all, however,
I lost who I had come to consider
My best friend:
My husband.

There are times now
When I feel friendless
Alone. Lonely. Rejected.
But then the door pushes open and
In rushes my angel
Dressed in a pink nightie,
Clutching her dolly
Coming in for a final
Good night kiss.
I look into her clear blue eyes
And see myself,
Hope that life will be
Kind to her
That she will always trust me
And consider me
Her best friend.

And then, the phone rings
A friend from another time,
Another country
Quietly, unfailingly,
She is there
Listening, offering advice
Cheerfully passing on
Snippets of news
Sharing in her joys.
Upon reflection,
I have a handful such friends
Without whom my life would
Make much less sense.
I wonder, how long since I told them
How much they mean to me.
I am off to write some letters
To my best friends.