For those childhood friends which we forget about, but then regret it.

A shared secret, in that juvenile hiding place,
Recalling with crystal clarity, my first friend’s face.
Intertwining memories of pulling poignant pranks,
Or just innocently holding hands.
Reminiscing about childhood friends and callow ways,
Serenely smiling in bliss, sitting in a daze.

Color, cast, race or gender,
No discrepancy, no divergence,
all into one blend;
From a pet snake to typical travellers on train,
everyone, a lifelong friend.
Enmity, hate, love, or marriage,
All manifestations of kinship,
Tangled tributaries,
of tranquil river of friendship.

Head-bowed, shame faced,
I beseech you to read,
A chance at forgiveness,
To make amends I humbly plead,
Remember those days of cricket,
Of playing hide and seek,
We learnt to cycle together,
Studying once in a week.

Left you behind to seek glory;
Now an empty heart with a head full of  theories.
A void in life without you, an incomplete life story,
Recalling your shy smile but a wave full of furore.
A ‘Happy Friendship’ day to you, my friend,
With an adamant promise to not treat this bond as an errand.

Awiral Grover