I loved you since day one but I would lie
If I said I recalled the first moment I saw you,
That instant in which life lavishly decided
To meld your existence with mine sculpting
An eternal bond, a persisting friendship.
I remember the sun.
Spoiled by the beauty of the Hellenic sea
Visions from our windows of infinity,
Rocked by tidal waves between walks
On the beach and lessons given to us oh so eager
To become successful adults, happy human beings.
I remember water vapours.
Fainting in the restaurant kitchen while preparing
Breakfast lunch and dinner for three hundred
Hotel management students as ourselves,
Learning loving rethinking society drowning nights
In alcohol, spliffs and drugs of any type.
I remember forgetting.
Dancing in Glyfada’s nightclubs ecstatic trips,
Tiropitas at four birds singing at dawn a melody,
The soundtrack to the tragedy that was to come
Though not before, exchanging intimacy in your room,
Sleeping next to you as you scratched.
I remember getting caught.
Out of control there were no limits
To what we could do nor much care for consequence,
Moments of laughter and glee only intermitted
By spirals of delirium teasing mind into believing
I could leave anytime; I was stronger than life.
I remember the blood.
Creeping from the bathroom to the phone
An instinct wanting to rebel, to survive, to be
Saved, next thing I know I am in your arms
You cleaned me and took me safely to the doc,
The following nineteen years I owe them to you.
I remember a friend.
[Featured painting: Last Day Of Summer by Richard Blunt]