Poem

Friendship’s precarious balance
of honesty and grace
Her tentative steps
toward authenticity, integrity
Slow
Uncertain
Essential
Pursuing connection
Seeking understanding

Resisting
Refuting
What gives you the right to be heard?
Rejected truth telling
because it is, after all,
Only an opinion
Better to go
Where friends will say
the things you want to hear

Moments
Months
A year
or many
You would have done well
To heed uncomfortable caution
Better not to have rejected
The ones who love you best
And their costly counsel
Costly
Measured
Tender

Friendship’s precarious balance
of honesty and grace