Disappointing Friends

Just which one makes you saddest mate When you must disappoint a friend Or when they’ve disappointed you? I’ve pondered this a lot of late As more and more friends meet their fate. I shouldn’t blame them but I do, Though not one chose to have life end It’s like I’m stood up for a date. I feel increasingly left out, Bereft to know why they’re not here, A mystery, how best to grieve! Somehow all friendship’s now in doubt, Like all my charm has lost its clout I wear my sadness on my sleeve. Confusion clouds the atmosphere My GPS dead on my route. Not right perhaps to feel such shame, Their deaths as stain upon my life However much I feel it’s true. I still have poetry’s acclaim Still feel the passion of its flame, The promised bliss of friends quite new, My loving muse a faithful wife, With paradoxes still to tame. And what of friends though still alive That let time pass without contact? So easy to pick up the phone, To rescue love from its nosedive And lapsing synapses revive, Is it my job function alone To keep shared memories intact? Do they not care that I survive? How many wait for other’s call To prove that they themselves exist, Some miracle to prove God’s real, Reliance placed on fashion’s mall, Consumption now man’s all in all, Our value we would rather steal, Than substitutes for love resist? And thus with Absalom we crawl. How strong the Love that we ignore In gentle grace or servant’s smile? God give us strength to seek His rest Avoiding fate of dinosaur. God’s Love’s the one we should adore, His Law the Guide that serves us best, Humility toward extra mile, The Wave that washes us ashore. Brian Johnston June 21, 2016