That very special friend was their imaginary friend.
Of course, one day, these imaginary friends would go away because it's time to 'grow up'.
But this poem is not dedicated to all those lost imaginary friends, but to all those people who's friends are no longer there for you, who've grown out of you, who've left you for something or someone else.
To all those people: this one's for you.
Deep deep down in the
corner of my room
I used to sit and
play with my friend.
There was no day with
a hint of gloom
Most times we would
play pretend
Bubbly laughter would
fill the air
Sweeping away any worries or fears.
Other times we would
play truth or dare:
For truth we’d listen
with open ears
And dare we’d watch
with gleeful eyes.
We’d hush under the
blankets in the dark
And listen to spilled secrets in surprise
With our pinky-promises steady and stark.
Whatever was mine was also my friend’s:
From toys and books and clothes and even me,
Sometimes I wouldn’t give everything (and that depends)
But then again, in the end we would both agree.
Then came a time when the leaves turned,
And illuminated the world in yellow
Like all the golden medals I’ve never earned.
My friend and I huddled together, ever so mellow.
Knock, knock, knock, a knock on my door.
Our hands entwined, I would never let go.
My mother burst in, on the creaky floor
She looked at me and said: “It’s time to grow.”
My heart had burst like bubbles and balloons
And my eyes were clouds of bulbous tears
But from that day I’ve gone out till the afternoon
With my parents. But I still have that pain that sears:
A branded mark forever in my soul and mind.
As the months twisted and turned,
The kind of time that was not fully unkind,
Memories that still sparked and burned
Came back. It then came to my concern
That my faithful friend: the other pea to our pod,
No longer cuddled in that little corner, I could discern.
It could not be! Was everything before just all a fraud?
My mother was the one who answered; as she said:
“No my dear, it was not. You were lonely, that is all.”
I felt as if there was a bomb tick-tocking in my head,
And never in my life, had I felt that small.
I grew as the trees grew, and changed as the leaves changed.
Time was the magical cure that helped me get by
And it helped me to no longer be estranged.
Now all is cleared I look up, up to the sky
And everything that happened before
I now can finally get to apprehend
The one I don’t need anymore:
My imaginary friend.
