On Friendships Old and New

There is no “present” in life — and yet there is only the present

The poet Robert Sund RIP (L) and the author circa 1968, from author’s priv pics

Family.
Friendships.
Dealing with strangers
and with people
once known and now
no longer known.
Is this social thing,
the need and power of it,
a natural part
of every life,
or is it more
a particular aspect
of each
individual’s life,
as in the differences
between the length of our fingers,
the direction of…