Discovering A Friend

If sorrow never happened and trouble never came,
The only thing you'd know about your neighbour is his name.

If all your days were bright and fair and certain was your place,
You'd only know the fellow by the features of his face.
Acquaintances upon the earth are all you'd ever own,
If care had always passed you by and grief you'd never known.

Time was, I used to nod to one who lived across the way,
But nothing did he mean to me, and nothing I to him,
Until one morning sorrow came, and all my world was grim.
I saw his face, I felt his hand and knew he'd come to lend,
The strength I needed, and right then I found I had a friend.

'Tis not in sunshine friends are made, but when our skies are grey,
The splendid souls that men possess are never on display.
We cannot tell what lies behind the hasty nod or smile,
Nor what of worth will come from it in just a little while;
We only know that when we face the cares that life must send,
We realize the passer-by has changed into a friend.

This page is dedicated to my New Friends
John and Judy
who lived across the way... in Pa.