For my friend Ravenpearl. Marcie forever in my heart.

I wish… we had met long ago. Running through the fields as children. Giggling at butterflies tickling our noses. Grass so high it brushed our cheeks as we ran. All those fences climbed on the shortest journey home.

I wish… we had held hands on a hill and watched clouds morphing into familiar shapes. Our friendship becoming seamless and natural. Always the trees bending and shifting in the wind reminding us of the changing seasons.

I wish… we could hug one more time and call each other brother and sister. Feeling whole and bonded as metal to a magnet. Sharing the comfort of familiarity and love unqualified.

I wish… we could begin again and retrace moments in time that were so cherished. That first music shared. Those first words expressed. Each seeking approval but knowing it was there without being asked.

I wish… we had taken each moment more serious. Understood that time was our biggest foe. Each step taken closer only ending up farther away. Suffering the indignity of a stranger taking you away from this world.

I wish… we had more time. That you had told me sooner. Letting me carry you when you were tired. Through the pain, I would have. To the end when I would have placed you gently for your everlong rest.

I wish… we knew that in the end that only our words left would be all we had. Each poem written and each story told becoming the placeholder for what was you. Still cherished but heart-wrenchingly less than what is wanted.

I wish… we could trade places. That you were still here to light up so many lives. To keep living in a world that needed you so much and me so little. The unfairness so stifling and bending me in agony.

I wish… we had shared one last moment. Me standing in that field. The grass only to my knees now. Looking up watching Ravenpearl circling higher and higher over my head into those clouds. Hearing you giggle one last time as you fade silently into forever. Your last fence climbed on your journey home.

Special Request to my friends and readers:
Please read fuzzy1954 tributes "One Week" and "God's Plan".