Poems From Inside Me

Reflecting Upon Loss and Grief

Old Friend

My friend do not leave me stay by my side

The pathways are dark and there is nowhere to hide

If I thought that by now there was a chance that you would be gone

I would have found someone else to keep me moving on

It was some years ago that you were no more

Sometimes I still dream of meeting you on some distant shore

The night is so dark and I am all alone

It was always times like this you let me into your home

We were a gang of young men who laughed together and cried

I will never forget how I heard that you died

Some mutual friends came by to tell me the awful news

From then on it seemed it was all self-loathing and booze

I could not understand how those people let you down

And how as they buried you they made you out to be some clown

I have to admit you died by your own hands

But how you must have felt no one understands

You were eighteen and had the world at your feet

You had a nice girlfriend who was pretty and sweet

Then your best friend and her decided they didn’t need you

If it was me I don’t know what I would do

You were such a good person and honest and smart

Hearing you threw away your whole life tore me apart

You were my classmate, my last link to our old friends

What you would do for any of us didn’t know any ends

You were the first person to have their own CD sound system

You invited me over to give some great music a listen

I felt bad and knew I would never have such a thing

You smiled and told me to wait to see what Santa would bring

The idea that you would give me a gift better than any I ever had

Now makes me feel angry, confused and very sad

Everyone you knew was for a time your best friend

I only wish I could have been there to stop you at the end

Yes I failed you dear friend, I hate to admit that it’s true

Although sometimes I feel your presence when I feel a little unglued

My friend do not leave me stay by my side

The pathways are dark and there is nowhere to hide

Leif Gregersen

December 6, 2014

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