TO MY FRIEND WHO IS LOST

'Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are' the saying goes.

But how can I point them out to you when they cannot be found?

 

"20 children cannot play for 20 years" the Yoruba adage proclaims

But I firmly believed that we could defy the odds ,

Probably the proverbs coming from the elders' lips hold more deeper truths within than I give them credit

For they can indeed see much farther distances when sitting down at the foot of the valley.
While my vibrant youthful eyes can only strain themselves in an effort to know what lies ahead even while standing on the mountain top.

True wisdom indeed lies on the lips of the ancients who came to the world ahead of me

 

But who would blame my infant mind from imagining such fantasies?

For I had believed that friendship can lead to brotherhood,

For I had believed all friendships could survive the sails on both the calm and stormy tides,

For I thought that the uniqueness of the things we shared, could defy the constraints of time and space.

Alas !
They were all childish assumptions.

We were friends like brothers,

Now, we are friends like strangers.

 

For you knew me once and now you don’t.
A sad reality which I would want to place the blame at the doorstep of the hustle and bustle of city life

A regular occurrence in life which I would like to call 'the challenges that adulthood brings'

A sad parting which I ascribe to the human and rational way of recognizing growth.

However.

I have heard stories of men who have been friends long before we were born, and are still waxing stronger.

My ears have heard the tales, and my eyes have seen gems who did not allow distance to severe the cord of their friendship.
 
Elders says our generation are too lazy

Always desiring something without giving anything in return.

Extending our right hands to receive while our left hand firm holds on to the little we have.

They declare that  technology will be our ultimate undoing.
The final nail that would seal the coffin of what is left of true friendship.
The fatal blow that would knock out what is left of our sanity.

The level of truth in their words is unsettling

For even though i know the colors of the cloth that adorn your body on a daily basis,

Read what’s on your mind, or what you claim to be on your mind,

Spend my last subscriptions to watch daily videos of loveliest and weirdest places you visit,

And follow the same people you follow even though you have no idea who they are,

We have become much more farther apart than we ever can be.

For I know the shallow things about you.

I understand the unspoken messages written in your well- structured expression of pain

I forget too quickly the essence and impact which spending quality time can do to your emotional being.

I now spend time liking your pain,
Re-tweeting your observations,

And double clicking your doubts.
All insignificant activities that halt me from asking what’s truly on your mind.

Because I have swallowed everything you write, hook line and sinker.
Choosing to believe the facade of glamour you put on you true self which is begging for help.

To my friend who is lost,

Please Say hello to me, your stranger friend.

Let’s make conscious effort to be found.

Love me deeper than the shallowness of our friendship.

Hold me closer and let's not be too far apart.
 
Break down those walls that you have placed between us.

That I may offer you a shoulder to cry on when you are down.
That I may offer you a piece of bread to munch on when you are hungry.
That I may show you the way of life to   trend when you are lost.
That we may find the strength to stand together when the whole world is against us.

To my friend who is lost.

Help me to find you.