HOW LONG?

As we were walking around
the mile or so lake,
he was asking me questions.
Luckily I guessed he was really
talking out loud to himself.

“How long am I going to keep on
wallowing in my own mess?”

“How long am I going to keep
on repeating these same mistakes?”

“How long will it be before I can learn to

forgive myself for so much wasted time in my life?”

“How long do I want to sit
in my own s…?” It rhymed.

We were walking and walking.
He kept talking and talking.

We came to a beginning,
so I asked, “Do you want to walk
around the lake again?

He said, “Of course.
Thanks.”

And I said to myself,
“Well maybe by talking,
he was beginning to walk away from it all.”

Then the inner thought,
“I guess this is what friends are for….”

Then the afterthought,
“How long before I’ll be the one
walking in his shoes.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2009