To My Best Friend:

“The which if you with patient ears attend,”
I quote Shakespeare, knowing how you love him,
And remembering how we learned him
Together.

I met you in a class.
I approached you across a crowded room
Where everybody seemed to know everybody
Besides me.
You had told me my name,
And I had promptly forgotten it.
I sat next to you,
The one free seat in a room
Full of buzzing strangers.
I tried to make small talk,
and made a fool of myself.
But you just laughed, and brushed aside my misplaced comment
Opening your arms to friendship…

That was three years ago.
Your arms are still open,
And I am snuggled happily in them.
You are my best friend.

We’ve never had a fight,
Something others find strange.
But I know the truth.
From that first moment, we learned
To simply brush aside the bad
And embrace the good.

You claim I’m prettier
You claim I’m more athletic.
But I know the truth.
You are more forgiving, more understanding—
And that eclipses everything else.
From that very first instant,
We were destined to be best friends.
You were never meant to be just “ a cell phone friend”
I quote your poem, and hope this one means as much to you.

And, as I listen to our favorite song,
A song you opened my ears to—
I am contemplative.
What would I do without you?
I’d rather not imagine.