Settled down across from each other
our laughter carries across the worn kitchen table
and fills the room.
It is during these moments
after years of helping to raise each other’s kids
and hopes
and dreams
that I realize who my porch rockers are.
Your are grown from late night calls
and early morning walks,
sitting together in pouring rain on school bleachers,
prom picture parents,
city hall supporters,
emergency room relievers
birthday revelers,
preschool Christmas pageant paparazzi,
sunset toasters;
all accepting allies
We so treasure these lives
wrapped around us
in familiar
layers.
I know who I want next to me when the dust has settled
from these decades of life’s roller coaster rides.
Friends from now
will hold strong then.
Cherishing the laugh lines that we’ve created together.
We will sit side by side
my rocking chair friends and I.
