To have a friend
is to experience the sublime, terrible state
of being known.
What could possibly be better,
or worse,
than having a person look you in the eye
and pull from your very soul
the truth of yourself.

To be awful is to be full of awe
To be terrifying is to elicit terror 
To submit to friendship is
To say nothing and
to feel nothing,
yet still they respond truthfully;
“I understand.”

Before that pushing,
hungry,
loving force,
I am not strong enough
to hold it at arm’s length.
Under a awful smile,
I am known