Friendship Lasting

Days go by slowly
And we were often alone.
But then there are happy times
To let ourselves be friends.
Look: We are what we are.
Fate deftly guided
The hours, and companionship sprang.
Came the nights. In their bosom
We set fire to words,
To abandon them later,
And ascend further still:
We began to be comrades
Who know each other
Beyond the voice or hinted sign.
Come now. Let the gentle words rise -
those that no longer say things-,
let them hover lightly;
For we are embroiled in the world,
Entangled in piled-up history,
And here’s the companionship that we form, full,
Lush with presences.
Behind each one
Our house, the land, the distance stand guard.
But hush.
I want to tell you something.
I just want to tell you that we are all together.
Sometimes, when talking,
One stays his arm over mine,
And I, though silent, offer thanks
For there is peace in our bodies and in ourselves.
I want to tell you how we brought
Along our lives till here, so that we tell of them.
We talked and talked at length,
So snugly, for months on end!
So much so that we know we are all right, and in the emory
The joy is akin to sadness.
Tender is pain to us.
Ah, time!
Now everything is explained.