Dedicated to Faith Gardner

I stare across the distance
Through the fog of time
I see two children staring
In a mirror that once was mine

They sat alone together
Not saying a single word
A tissue box between them
I suppose that they were bored

But she had just moved in
The house across the street
I was young and just real shy
And I stared only at her feet

We became friends that day
And continue to be still
We’ve been though thick and thin
‘Cause some friendships can’t be killed

We played countless games of ding-dong ditch
And sledded off the walls
We told each other ghost stories
And even played with dolls

We climbed up a bunch of trees
And rode our bikes a lot
We sometimes lost our balance
Or tripped over loose rocks

We picked up bugs
And sometimes gave them names
At sleepovers we snuck downstairs
And drew pictured for tiny frames

We talked to older neighbors
Alice, Doris, and Boo
And once we thought this woman
Turned Joe into a monkey too!

Both of us were in swim team
Only she was so much better
She was the athletic one
I was just the writer

Even though time has put
Miles of space to split us friends
We’ve written letters back and forth
Because we’ll be friends until the end

Emily Marie Alexander