7 – TO A COMPANION

We were closest in childhood when, fighting for breath,

my fear so worsened asthma we shared

both were equally scared.

While not much liking you I admired

how you bore what seemed unbearable pain

and kept mending the skin I tore again and again.

My cowardice mainly confined us to sex with each other

until, after forty, kind women came.

Forgive me for granting so little of what you liked best

and thanks for letting this daft pest

overwork your brain and hand, all for my glory,

then knock us out with booze, to get rest.

I never had to care

for a servant who never complained of irregular meals

and was always there,

and see now, nearing our end,

you endured and allowed much more than I ever planned,

being a friend.


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