I asked for his lifelong hand in friendship.

I felt my soul stir when I saw the swollen maple buds on the trees. The book was right; they really did bloat like grapes at the tips of the branches! Rain slapped the streets while a mix tape from an old friend poured songs into my thirsty ears. My mind drank fully. Nostalgia crimped the edges of my lips into a quiet smile. I was heart-sore without being sad.

Today I caught the eye of a tree. It was shallow and blue. The iris was rimmed by hollow white that stood in stark contrast to the surrounding dark, sopping and wrinkled bark. Under its unblinking stare my soul fell wonderfully apart and scattered with the rain.

I couldn't believe how perfectly the caps wagged in the distance on the Great Lake before me. The blue clouds hung low and moisture pressed my breath upon the heaving sigh of the rolling waves. With the loving roar of dissident music in my ears I felt his presence hang over me like second hand smoke. I laughed at the sky and spun wide-armed below the poppy-red lighthouse to the throaty songs he gave unto me. The cassette filled me with our camaraderie. I knew more gladness under that gray sky than I could bear, so I laughed as hoarsely as the gulls called and wrapped my heart around each munificent smile I offered to passersby. I hope they felt an iota of what I knew today... in the rain, before the waves, under the eye of a noble oak...