Different Slants

February 23, 2012

(Written on a rush hour train, on the way to seeing my brain surgeon for the first time, eight years after my two operations. He was fine.)

Friendship
Requires
Paying attention

And:
Concern
Involvement
Exhilaration
Risk
Disappointment

Friendship
is an
Intertwining
of
Mutual
Passion & Pleasures:

Sports
Movies
Coffee

Standing on the corner,
Watching

Friends can be Married
Or not
Lovers can be Friends
Or not

Friendship
is the
“Other”
Possibility

Sharing
Sensuality
Without
Sexuality

Friendship
is
Heightened
Reality

Unspoken
Communication

Feeling
Simpatico
to a
Common Reality

Remembrance
of
Tragedy
Without
Needing
the
Reminding

A love of:
Food
Wine
Travel
Laughter

Friendship
Is:
Politics
But
not
Politicians
Who
Pretend
They have
a
Million
“Friends”
Until
They
Lose an Election

Friendship
Doesn’t
Demand
Fidelity:
Me and no one else BUT me!

Tyranny & Control
aren’t
Friendship

Friendship
is
Selective

Whom you
Instinctively
Call
When
Your
World
Disintegrates

When the Police come
When you’re fired
When your car crashes
When your Lover leaves
When your Lover dies

Friendship
Is
Inconvenient

Friendship
is
Shared
Suffering

Can’t be bought
Can’t be sold
Has no intrinsic value
Can’t be measured

Friendship
Offers
Spiritual
Relaxation
a
Lowering
of
Guards
an
Invitation
to
Emotional
Intimacy

Possibly…

Confessions
of
Follies past

To
Some
Receiving
such
Trust
is
a
Bond of Honor

To
Others
a
Dagger
of
Possibilities

The
Only
Restraint
Between the Two
is
One
Sees
Opportunity

The Other
Sees
No
Opportunity
at
All

The Difference
is
an
Ocean
of
Character

Whatever
Compels
Us
to
Accept
the
Risk?

Perhaps
the
Innate
Compulsion
Simply
to
be
Known

Known
Before
We
Die

The Wealthy
Never
Know
Who
is
Truly
Their friend

The
unexpected
cost
of
“No Worries”

The Poor
Huddle
Together
So much in common
So little to share

The
Intersection
Comes
When it comes

When
One
Chooses
to
Aid
the
Other
In ways
Uncountable

Even then
No one really knows
For sure
The score
Between the Classes

Money poisons everything
Unmeasurable

Friends share success
Friends don’t trade up
Friends cheer each other’s prosperity
Friends don’t forget
Friends don’t disappear

Friends find Time
&
Friends find Time
&
Friends find Time

If the
Universe
Chooses
To make me
Rich

My Friends
My real Friends
Will
Know:

Fixing
their
Broken Things-
Fetching
their
Forgotten Dreams-
Landing
Them
In their
Faraway Places-

Why should I care?
If you have to ask
You will never understand

Can you give me change for a smile?

Me?

I
Can’t
Wait!

***************************************************************

 (262) 752-3333  robertmkatzman@gmail.com

Katzman’s Publishing Company site: www.DontGoQuietlyPress.com
Katzman’s online non-fiction stories: www.DifferentSlants.com

Poetry? For me, writing poetry is not an option.
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Writing poetry in an imperative. I say what I feel compelled to say.

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