Daniel, we were kids
racing through the cobbled alleyways
of our hometown, in the Springtime
We were bright
we knew how things worked, instinctively
We were different but we overlapped
complimentary in creative ways
I lived somewhat in your thrall

Daniel, you were the loud one
I was sensitive and quiet
You were popular and active
always quick with a withering quip
While I hid in summer bedrooms
scribbling diaries, etching poems
you stayed out late on your BMX
or scaling garage rooftops

Daniel, we were young men
trying to get served in bars
I was the first of us
to find myself a girlfriend
I allowed a distance to expand
but still I followed you
to some dark
and bright places

Daniel, we kept in touch
but a decade or two 
blew between us 
I never thought you’d chase my first love
purely to prove something
and when you caught her
all you did was leave her broken
a new coat of paint upon your ego

Daniel, we were kids
now, we’re middled aged
and I don’t know what to do with you
Your sarcastic barbs won’t let me forget
all the foolish things you saw me do
I need to unhitch this trailer of unease
You damaged someone I loved
I’ve got to put all of this behind me

Daniel, we’re knitted by our history
but it’s time to close the glass
on this display case of memories
you’re an artefact in my museum
A printed card beneath that reads 
“We spun in orbits, then we scattered
We mattered, then we moved on
And time goes, but we’re done…”

(Photo borrowed from here)