Poem #15: Friendship

Friendship

Would you be a ship within a bottle,
safely scanning a sea you never sail,
horizon visible but untouchable,
dreams dreamt but unfullfilled,
ever the untouching, passive, avoiding,
shipwrecked recluse?

Rather, be a bee,
immersed in cooperative effort,
creating, nurturing, non-stopping,
affecting all you touch, pollinating new life,
insignificant amongst the multitude
but vital to that multitude.

Friendship is paradoxical:
anchor and lifeline,
ballast and burden,
lifeboat and walking-plank.

Extending your hand is an act of courage
and desperation,
for we leave something of ourselves
whenever we touch others.

What do you leave?

by Chuck Morlock
copyright 1997