A Friend

Sometimes, I feel a little better having a friend like you.
You - alive, kind, mysterious - always the ultimate.

But time - the test of friendship - has made us the
   participants in a cruel exercise.
For when time is 'enough' and the storm is passed,
Then we like two ships at sea weathering the stormy
   swells
Will be separated by miles of time.

We will be better for knowing one another,
Perhaps - if we really think about it.
But the panacea of friendship magnified by the times
Becomes the placebo of the memory which only and
   alone will survive the ultimate distance.

I was alone - and lonely - and you came along
As if your time pendulum and mine swung passed each
   other, then stopped for a brief interlude.
But the pendulum swing is perpetual and the interlude
   is not,
And we will swing our separate ways - alone.

But in the interlude how much better life seemed:
A brief stay in the green valley with its soft green
   carpet, graceful shade trees, and crystal clear
   crisply calling creek.
The animals come to you and understand what you are.
And the warmth of the sun and the gentle wind proudly
   acknowledge the presence of their 'honorary' masters.

We talked together, played together, and sang, and
   understood - sometimes.
Sometimes - maybe that's why the stay is so brief!
Could it be that the need to be understood and the fear
   of the loss if we were,
Drives a wedge that sets the pendulum back in motion.

The pendulum will soon be swinging again, and we may
   never know 'who is right?'
(Did I hear someone say 'What do you care?')
I don't care who is right, only that we'll never have that
   chance in friendship to find out.
I care as much for the product of your being as
   I do for you.

Sometimes, I feel a little better for knowing you.
But I wish I never had the chance.
The going away is so much more painful than
   the coming - I wonder why?
Perhaps because this one very tiny little tear is my only
   real remembrance.

BP can't do it!

Finally, there is help on the horizon for the Gulf Oil leak from outside BP. On Tuesday representatives of the EPA, Coast Guard, the Energy Department, NOAA, Woods Hole, World Wildlife Fund, and several other organizations and universities held a brainstorming session to stop the Gulf oil leak that included various scientists, experts, and engineers. Among those in attendance was James Cameron of Avatar and Titanic fame who is considered and expert on underwater photography and robotic vehicle technique.