I'm not sure when it actually began -

Missed movies and shopping trips,

Not talking about daily nothingness,

Confidences once shared left unspoken.


Then the road between became 800 miles

And the distance was real as well as imagined.

At first there were phone calls and letters.

Weekly became monthly.

Monthly became birthday cards and holiday greetings.

Now those are sporadic as well.


The promised visits never materialize.

Pictures arrive with strange faces.

E-mail temporarily revived the friendship,

But now the personal messages have become

Forwarded jokes and chain letters -

All deleted, never read.


Are we still friends?

I don't know.

I don't care about her kids' swim meets.

She doesn't care how many tomato plants are in my garden.

Shared memories still bring a smile or a tear.

But we travel different paths.

I no longer miss her.

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Hypatia

19.06.03 Front Page

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