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Anna Pulley's avatar

what a loving tribute - and i love the kindness practice ideas too! thank you.

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Jess's avatar

May we all choose to love the way Neal loved others and you all loved him. On that subject, this is my alt love poem to long distance friendship. I'm playing with repetition but it's not sorted out yet. It's either too similar or not similar enough.

I used to watch you hold your ash

brown hair between two fingers

and bite, the locks turning to a pale

tassels at their ends. You used to fry

us crispy eggs for lunch, waiting

for the oil to heat so the eggs

would transform into a piles of tulle

once they hit, pale and puffed. I used

to lie often on your coach, admiring

your cowboy print. Waiting for you.

Now I wait 10, 12, 18 months

to see you. I’d rather pretend

I'm waiting for you, than accept

I live without you. Six years separate,

and I don't want to get used to it.

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Annalise Parady's avatar

This is me realizing I was too emotional upon reading this poem to ever reply. The eggs into piles of tulle! You've clearly conjured deep memories for me, here, but I love the images. And the end is a gut punch. Love you, Jessie.

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Jess's avatar

Also I posted this with typos! That's what I get for editing my poem in the comment box, lolol

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