What does it mean to be the companion of another?
To be their friend?
Is a friend someone with whom you can converse
on the day-to-day activities of your life?
Is a friend someone with whom you can spend time,
whether it is 5 minutes or 5 years?
Is a friend someone that can cheer you up when you are sad
and challenge you when you do wrong?
Laugh with you in the good times
and cry with you in the bad?
Is a friend someone who turns their back on you
when you do wrong?
Or do they forgive and try to help you do better?
What is friendship?
Is a friend someone with whom you can spend endless hours
talking online?
Is a friend a follower on Twitter? A “Facebook friend”?
Is the word “friend”
A word that is tossed around almost
as loosely as the word “love”?
Is a friend simply an online persona,
and when the two of you pass each other in
the hallways at school
or in the streets
you barely even glance at one another?
Is a friend someone on your profile simply
“listed” as your brother?
What is friendship?
What does friendship mean?
Does it mean that you give up opportunities for
your own pleasure in order to comfort others?
Does it mean you journey to the ends of the Earth
in order to say a simple good-bye?
Does it mean that when you see something
that makes you smile
you automatically wish they could have seen it?
Does it mean you simply think of each other
every so often?
Does it mean you make gestures to show that you still care?
A sudden hello?
A long good-bye?
Slumber parties?
Games?
Classes, even?
What is friendship?
Friendship is a chain
Love is the metal
And the links in the chain connect our hearts
to those we call our “friends”
The true friend
Will always respond
with the same feeling
Sending signals, assuring you
“I’ve got your back.”
Friendship connects us to those outside of the family
A bond of memories and feelings that can only be
shared with people from outside of the family
People who are different from you
And you can each draw from each others’ strengths
Like a sheet of paper
We as individuals may crumble easily
But, together, we make nearly unbreakable bonds
Bonds of friendship