I said goodbye today….
  saying for months
  what I’d been trying to say

Alone in the throng
  staring down at the hole
  they had laid you upon

I remember
  the laughter
  and the joy that we shared

I remember
  the promise
  that we made on a dare

“Never
  to end up like this,”
  we had taken the same vow

Each
  empowering the other
  to end it before now

I could not
  pull that plug
  or flush down that drain

The guilt
  hanging heavy,
  the memory left stained

I hope
  you now see me
  from a much better place

And take pity
  on my failing
  my one great disgrace

The backhoe
  is coming,
  the mourners have gone

Please forgive me
  I beg,
  I’ll be with you before long

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)