Everlasting Friend

May my solitude be fruitful.
To fill this barrenness with life,
that was my desert song.

I yearned for company.
Grasping for every connection,
right or wrong.

I found my comfort.
A comfort so elusive and fickle,
it didn't last very long.

That was when I let my thorn,
the thorn in my flesh,
become my source of company.

I indulged it.
I confided in it.
I let it be.

Oh foolishness!
I was numbed by its poison,
unable to feel it spread.
It was not until a man
who was also pierced
knelt by me and said:

"I love you son.
I have never left you.
I will never leave you.
I am with you."

That I felt the pain in my heart,
the depth of the wound that I let be.

It was not until then,
that I felt the warmth
that was always a part of me.

Amen.