"an unbroken friendship..."

""There are no greater miracles
known to earth
than perfection
and an unbroken friendship...."
- Mary Baker Eddy

"thank you
for 'friending' me..."

she wrote

"for accepting my
'friend' request..."

he said.

the list has grown,
i see their names and
we read updates about the most
private
events in eachother's lives...

the birth of a child,
a mother's passing,
a move
that not even her
daughter
knew
was in the works...

I see us
sitting in coffeehouses
reconnecting with "friends" while
someone
stares at us from
across the room
just begging to
make eye contact
while
we
scroll


it's fascinating...
but is it friendship?

the enduring kind,
the kind that drops everything
in the middle of the
afternoon and
rushes to hold my hair...
while
my body rejects
what is foreign...

the kind of
friendship
that
prays with me
for
just
a glimpse of what is
native to
my nature -
something she
knows
so
well...

the willingness
to lay down
our lives
for one another,

to share secrets over
a clothesline
and never
betray a trust...

but,
what is
this new
definition of
"friend"
and
how do
we know
what
is genuine?

what
is it
that
lies deep
within
the
chasm of
this online kingdom -
where we post images of
houses we can only dream about,
the wedding dress we didn't wear,
and places we've
never visited but want to
be known for
wanting to go...

somewhere
we hold dear
in our hearts...

and hope
that there will be
a da when....
it might be,
could be
ours.

but,
I wonder,
who are we
to each other...
really?

are we
"friends,"
or do you
only know the me
I tell
you I am -
by my posts
and tweets,
my pins and
photos softened by
digital effects

how do I identify
myself...

am I what I desire -
an album full of smiling children,
happy celebrations,
notable events,
and the statuses that
only tell the story
I wish to have remembered...

is this
what makes
us friends?

or...

are my friendships
defined by
experiences shared in the
space of a moment,
a relationship where the feelings
are so deep that
they
cannot be
translated into a
post,
a blog,
an update meant for sharing...

unless,
of course,
I
change the
setting to include

"the friends of friends..."

a strange phenomena since
what we share is
just between
we two..

what endures when today's newsfeed
fades into yesterday's
timeline?

this...

this is
what I
know
to be real...

my sister's
hand holding a
cold cloth
above my brow,

my daughter's laughter
lingering long after our
call has ended,

my child's hair flowing
through my fingers
as I plait it
for
another day
of school...

a friend's
voice
asking
nothing, and
saying so much in the
silence..

what can I really know
about you,
when the
only
conversations we seem
to have
are
observable by
anyone...
and everyone...
on our list

when
with the click of
a key stroke we
accept,
reject,
hide,
expose,
like,
or unlike
another person

as
a
friend...

what is left
unbroken
when the comment
is made,
removed,
forgotten...

what
kind of
friend
is the greatest miracle
known to earth...

and
what will I
do to
hold it dear...

how deeply
will
i listen

and
be part of
a
miracle...



"Greater love
hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life
for his friends...."
― John