My soul calls out across the distance,
as it has a thousand times before.
But this time,
yours echoes back.

You hear the ache beneath my quiet “fine.”
You see beyond the stoic face,
past the walls I’ve carefully built,
past the smile I wear
when I would rather cry.

You see the hidden places of my heart,
the dreams I seldom speak,
the things I hold most dear.
And somehow,
you understand without my having to explain.

With you,
I need not measure every word
or guard the fragile parts of me.
You know my faults and fears,
yet I never fear your knowing.
I can lay my armor down
and simply be me.

When burdens threaten to crush me,
you help me bear their weight.
When the world turns against me,
you stand by my side,
unafraid to fight.

When sorrow fills my heart,
you share its heaviness,
and let me rest within your embrace.
And when happiness comes calling,
you take my hand
and dance with me.

We wander through conversations
as deep and boundless as the sea,
sharing our hopes,
our wonderings,
the things that stir our souls.

Then laugh at silly nonsense
until tears run down our cheeks
and our bellies ache.

We could wander mountain paths,
watch waves break against the shore,
or sit beneath a sky full of stars,
and find ourselves equally content
in conversation or in silence.

For there is no need to entertain,
no need to impress,
no need to become
someone other than who we are.

You are the sunshine
that finds its way
through the cracks in my walls,
warming places
I had long forgotten.

But you are more than shelter
from the storms of life.
You are the one I want beside me
when the skies are blue,
when the road stretches endlessly ahead,
and the world is full of possibilities.

My fellow traveler,
my kindred spirit,
my dearest companion.

The answer to a call
I thought no one could hear.

My friend.