we let go
a lifetime ago
I learned my first lesson in the geography of my world
from a friend who passed me a note in class:
We are here,
but I can’t be there
for you
anymore–
I have new friends.
no matter where I’ve been
friends walk
off the edges of my map
or jump
or are flung
as though we’ve spun and spun on a playground carousel
and one by one
we let go
I don’t know where most of them land
we send memes instead of letters
to save on the cost of friendship
I know them by their avatars
Learning names of a new friend’s spouse or children takes me months
then one of us moves
then one of us moves on
we dust off our backsides, our hands
I mark the place where my feet struck
I drop a pin on my map
4 thoughts on "we let go"
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this one catches it
how friends somehow get off the hook.
+++++
your poems snap crackle & Pop
This poem is very tight, Sue. The form plays with the ongoing nature of the losses.
love the declaration of the last line, to me it speaks of knowing one’s self. there’s a confidence there.
This really lands, so well constructed and insightful. Especially love –
“we send memes instead of letters
to save on the cost of friendship”