Friends Like Lovely Flowers

In the years since I came to PoetrySoup, I developed sweet friendships with two poets: Daver Austin and Matthew Amish. Their poems I visited so frequently that we even exchanged chapbooks with each other. Both of these two poets were men who had one sad thing in common. At one point (at different times from each other), they had stopped posting poems for a while, and busy as I always am, I failed to notice when I had not heard from them until it finally dawned on me that it had been weeks since I’d touched base with them. When I investigated on the two different occasions this happened, I discovered they each had passed away a month or two before I had noticed they were gone. How I wish they had let me know that their health had been failing. I knew of Daver’s chronic health problems, yet I guessed he was still doing ok. Matt’s death was a complete shock to me. I regret not having told them how much their friendship meant to me before they died. From this experience I’ve learned to be more vigilant on keeping up with my special friends who are like the loveliest of flowers in my friendship garden. How easily they can slip away. like lovely flowers good friends beautify our lives . . . keep them well watered Dedicated to all my poet friends who have passed away Nov. 22, 2021 for charles messina's Haibun- With A Message Poetry Contest