By Baxter Black, DVM
Friend is a word that I don’t throw around
Though it’s used and abused, I still like the sound.
I save it for people who’ve done right by me
And I know I can count on if ever need be.
Some of my friends drive big limousines
Own ranches and banks and visit with queens.
And some of my friends are up to their necks
In overdue notes and can’t write a check!
They’re singers or ropers or writers of prose
And others, God bless ’em, can’t blow their own nose!
I guess bein’ friends don’t have nothin’ to do
With talent or money or knowin’ who’s who.
It’s a comf’terbul feelin’ when you don’t have to care
’Bout choosin’ your words or bein’ quite fair
’Cause friends’ll just listen and let go on by
Those words you don’t mean and not bat an eye.
It makes a friend happy to see your success.
They’re proud of yer good side and forgive all the rest.
And that ain’t so easy, all of the time
Sometimes I get crazy and seem to go blind!
Yer friend just might take you on home
Or remind you sometime that you’re not alone.
Or ever so gently pull you back to the ground
When you think you can fly with no one around.
A hug or a shake, whichever seems right
Is the high point of givin’, I’ll tell ya tonight,
All worldly riches and tributes of men
Can’t hold a candle to the worth of a friend.
“Take Care of Yer Friends” was excerpted from Poems Worth Saving; published in 2013, Hardcover, 272 pages. baxterblack.com
