Two ships....

We came together
During a time
That tore others
Apart;
I had no one, while
You had many
But were alone.
A dozen feet of
Carpeted hallway
Separated our doors,
Feet that could easily
Have been
Miles
For the distance
Between them.
We had never spoke
And only rarely
Exchanged
A nod or
Absent smile
In greeting.
Who would have thought
Mere walls
Separated us
Each from who
Would become
Our true st
Quasi-wartime
Buddy?
Had it not been for
The desperate need to
Escape
The prison of
Our apartments,
Our mutually frantic
And irresponsible
Decision to
Relieve our
Hideous boredom
By walking up and down
The corridor,
We would probably never
Have known the sounds,
The inflections,
Of one another's
Voice;
But we did finally meet,
And we bonded
As we spent
Many hours
Sitting
Twelve feet apart
On kitchen chairs,
Becoming acquainted
With each other's stories,
Laughing as we
Shared our thoughts and
Our opinions on everything
From politics to
Ping pong,
Our diverse
And tolerant
Spiritual philosophies,
And even our recipes
So that we
Didn't always have to
Eat the same stuff;
And we comforted each other
When yet another friend
Or loved one
Succumbed
To the pestilence
That endangered us
All.
But happily and
With time
The crisis passed
And life resumed,
Our hallway rendezvous
Ceased,
And though no longer
Strangers
Who had once passed
With a mere nod
Or absent smile,
We became too busy
And we forgot
The intimacy
That had bound us.
Now, years later,
I think back
On that time, and
As I remember it all,
I smile,
Grateful
To have had you
To help me through.

c. 2020


Image by coombesy from Pixabay