Day 1

Trigger-happy gigglers
We laugh on instinct
Erupting roars around the room
like criss-cross apple sauce trip mines
Too short for rides
Condemning tattle-tales
Selectively breeding kickball sides

We blindly birth friendships
forged in
loose baby teeth and tetherball tourneys
Sorting like magnets
Forming tight-knit groups of natural buds

Loud and clear, teacher’s orders, the call to ‘find a partner’
Instant-simultaneously locking eyes
with thumb war rivals
across a galaxy
Our eyes became embassies of trust and loyalty for the first time

Day 2
Run to the bat cave
Awkward PE locker room suit ups
Before sliding down the chute
into the bat mobile
and out onto the court
Where popular kids came into existence
From Bunsen burners to broken lockers
Excitement ranged from hallway brawls and marijuana

Friends turning into large children before our eyes
Giving Oxford inspiration for the word “weird”
School turned us into trained hooligans
And
Still giggling

In the same tribes from elementary
We had each other’s backs
Smuggling homework answers
Dumping group projects on non-buddies
Our comfort with each other, rooting deeper by minutiae

Day 3

Finally growing in that beard
Soon I’ll spread my wings and leave but dust at the nest
Approaching graduation, uncharted waters
The young birds stare at the hawks for emulation
Standing on the edge of the nest, deciding my path of flight
doubts of life dig deep and thrive

I fall under a wet, heavy blanket
I’m seduced by the reaper’s scythe
Every step of the way, a friendly face
asks me of my path
my state of being
tickles my belly to provoke a laugh
Still
giggling

Mutual years have passed
the mandatory chains which connected us to begin with
Thickened
Rusted in compassion
Barnacled in mutual joy
Expected to break with the passage of time
yet held by the strength of a memory alive
We’ve changed together
Crossed paths deflecting our lives into different directions
Each encounter leaving a piece for each other’s puzzles

Onto day 4
but not without my friendships
it is
all
I need