30. Long, Long Time

I miss the early days of my childhood

When there was nothing strange at all

About a boy and a girl who were best friends

They didn't automatically have to be in love

It was back before all the drama began

When it was just you and me and no one else

When you were sitting beside me on my bus

Holding your hand made me feel secure

But society didn't agree with us

They said we just couldn’t be friends

It wasn't right for a boy and girl to play together

When she loved dolls and he liked trucks

You still live right down the street

But I haven’t seen or spoken to you in a long, long time

I don't think I ever will again

Because in a few years you won't be around anymore

Your mother said our friendship just wasn't right
She got inside your head and changed your mind

And I've never forgiven her for that

I lost a friend I never should have

I never will understand what was so wrong about us

What did everybody object so strongly to?

Would I have really made you any less of a man?

What was so wrong about two five year-old's holding hands?

Author's Note

This poem is about my first best friend. When we started school his mother started to put distance between us. She was worried because I was a girl and he was a boy. She wanted him playing with other boys. i wish I had fought to keep our friendship, but I was five at the time. The saddest part is he's got a terminal illness...