A Friend Indeed.... Poem by Edmund V. Strolis

My lips are shut as you understood is to convey that some moments are beyond words and your role is more the friend waiting out the wretched pains of a drug withdrawal. Wishing that you were anywhere else but also realizing that no one else could be there but you. Friends in sun and shadow. A writing strangely enough more a wish on the wind. A wish that the very person that I wanted to help went radio silent for years and still remains so. I was once asleep at the switch but as the story goes the fool asleep at the switch that caused such a wreck is the last person one should worry would ever do so again. We are no good to anyone if we are no good to ourselves. What selfishness it is to carry a weight alone when friends will gladly shoulder your earthly burden with you. There are bad times and their are nightmares. The difference is like a groan to thunder. You are right about the freedom. In prison you are punished with solitary confinement. In society you are rewarded with friends.

Oh Zuzan, I wanted to be sure to convey the message and do it justice. This is hallowed ground. We may afford to write something of love and use hyperbole or romantic images but not so with the dark hours when all semblance of a person's world has turned to lead and the agony of each moment is frozen in agony. I believe to be there amid the wreckage of someone that you love defines us and shows the universe that misery shared is mercy. One need not look any further than beyond this bond is triumph. Bittersweet beauty. Love extended is an energy that is perpetual. Love given multiplies in return and that as well duplicates too. Our actions ripple throughout eternity as we touch and put in motion this thing that touches everything else.

Your knowledge of literature is a blessing. How amazing that such an economy of words can convey so many levels of meaning. The faithful proverb seems counter-intuitive but what can be more plain and true in regards to the deceptive and wicked kisses of an enemy.

In that terrible hour we are witness to another person's world coming apart. We can absorb pain if allowed and although some things are so painful that it seems the human mind is ill-equipped to endure it the presence of a steadfast friend may be the only hope. A shoulder to wail on, a hand to squeeze. A loyal vigil through the eternal hours until dawn.

Isn't it so Sarah? What good are friends if they are not there in time of need? Friendship has a certain love and beauty that demands bravery and loyalty and nothing less. We have all heard the stories of a so-called friend betraying a person. That was not a friend. Call that person what you will but if anything that type of person is worst than an enemy. At least an enemy can be expected to betray you but a friend? That is as impossible as a loving mother hurting her child. it goes against nature itself....hope all is well!