An Ode To Friendship

Yes, they were friends, then

Those days, in school, or was it college

Who you could turn to 

When a test didn't go right,

When you had tiff at home,

Or, When your one-sided affair ran into 

Some bad weather, 

A little too often!

Yes, they were friends, then

The golden years spent in hostel

Who you'd trust more than the mirror,

Who'd make you laugh, so hard

Until the pain in stitches reminded  

You were on a hospital bed,

Who would pay for your lunch, 

When you run out of reserves

Yet made you smile, by calling it a "treat"!

Yes, they were friends

Who were not blood

But played their parts no less than blood!

Who could turn to you, for anything 

And, who would you vouch for, 

And, maybe lied a few times at home

If it were not for friends!

And, yes, they are friends

Who still love to talk, 

But have forgotten the art of listening.

For whom samosas or gupchup, are still lip-smacking

But time and life has built so many veils

Between heart and the lips,

Still, eyes don't lie!

Some people don't grow

Out of the memories

For whom friends are life's best treasures:

So what if treasures become life's best friends

To a few!

They were friends, they always will be

So what if they forget old times, sometimes

After all, isn't forgetting a virtue!

© Sashikant Mohanty