Friends for the Finale

Some of you I've forgotten how you walked into my life
While others I'll never forget your graceful entrance.
I am humbled in this home, hallowed by your presence.

How long a friendship lasts is not what makes it important
But rather the ability to endure such tests.
Some of us have been forced apart by time, distance and mortality;
Others just as grand, but never quite the same as any one of you,
Have come alongside to shine in this grand and vast Milky Way.

If I could I would have us all build a permanent home together,
I would raise it up as a shelter; never a place of want or need.
We would shelter this storm and others that would come and pass.

But we can't, this story was not meant to unfold this way.

So arm your promises and practice your "Good-byes"
But let's walk together, please, over one, last, final hill.

This Old Forest

Oh you old soul you,
What's it like to lose a part of you when you buried it deep down,
Down inside someone who is long gone from you?
As you sleep at night you pray for that piece to come back to you;
Roots shooting down and heart pushing skyward.
Maybe friendship is being able to let someone walk away
So that they may chase their own dreams,
Dreams that are no longer tied to yours.
So you keep all the ghosts of fellow souls close,
Bringing them out on parade at night.
Why is that we awake from sleep,
Remembering all the unsaid perfect words?
When the mourning breaks and all the ticker tape has been swept away,
Truth will be left and new growth in its wake; be loyal to that.
So stand fast as life shakes you awake,
Be at peace for all your nights asleep.

Hallowed Houses (Hymns for Friends)

Death passes through here but has yet to truly linger,
Not in any of my stays anyways.
Perhaps it is the brightness of their hearts
That for now hold it all at bay.
Until I can no longer do so, I will seek refuge here
Among the messes of being human.
Because am I really more than a mess?
This family of friends realize it,
As we break bread and hearts together,
I love them all for it all and all we have.