WHERE IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN

 

For her, friendship has persisted.

In the praise she feels from the sunrise,

in the serenades she hears

as she cruises on her bicycle

across the brother and sister streets,

in the clusters of grapes she savors

as often as possible – in all this

there is the sound of friendship

passing through her life like quiet cars.

She listens to the lyrics

of flowing water over dishes in the sink,

and it says that friendship

will find us when we’re lost.

Her life wears flowered skirts

because friendship insists

on staying where it is,

where it always has been.