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I Choose My Friends So Carefully Collaboration With Rhona Mcferran

I Choose My Friends So Carefully
by Caren Krutsinger & Rhona McFerran

Get back in your house,
I will stay in mine.
We won’t act like neighbors,
Everything will be fine.

I had given you chances,
Several actually,
Invited you to breakfast,
And had you to tea.

It has been twenty years,
No waves, and no smiles.
Me ask you for help?
I would rather walk for miles.

So uncomfortable walking
In and out of my house,
I wish you were a human being,
Not a gigantic louse.

I used to enjoy my garden-
For me it was a treat!
But now I only view it from
My hidden window-seat.

My only source of comfort
In this wretched neighborhood,
Is on the web (on blogs and boards)
Where folks act as they should.

I choose my friends so carefully,
Avoiding the likes of you,
My companions are exquisite...
Of the truest-bluest blue! 

I don't need sorry neighbors,
I have a best friend- oh yes!
She's lovely, quirky, cool and kind,
And (simply put) the best!  

It began on my favorite blog
With an excellent guest point-of-view.
The article was juicy, witty and wise
And (more importantly) true.

Curious, I followed the link to
Her own blog and read it straight through.
My own ideals it so mirrored-
It felt too good to be true...

From there, I saw her artwork,
What a joy to behold!
I loved each brushstroke, color and texture,
And the stories each painting told.

Then I noticed she had Pinterest-
It was almost too much to bear!
To see all my favorite things and interests
Conveniently collected there.
In a frenzy of excitement,
I clicked- Follow!  Like!  Subscribe!
I felt so darn elated,
I'd finally found my "tribe"...

And for months we corresponded
As the best of friends online,
Soul-sister and anam cara,
The feeling was sublime.

I confided things I'd never said,
Stories never told,
She shared the epic of her life,
And willingly bared her soul.

We swore we'd be best friends for life
And sealed it with matching tattoos
Of lovely whimsical lettering:
"Anam Cara" in purplish hue.

But, astonishment hit me squarely
When I passed by you today-
Oh, yes, it was you, strutting along in
Your high-handed un-neighborly way.

You were carrying some of her artwork
And wearing our secret tattoo-
I felt gobsmacked and foolish,
Out of sorts and totally blue.

Are we still the best of pals,
Or are you too snotty to admit
We were silly, and wasted twenty years 
Of a friendship made to fit?

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