Poem

Basking
Reading novels of feminity, family and theatre
With the TV upstairs a bawdy reminder of location, language, life
My mind conjures images of truly happy times
In East London Pubs
With people I love
And our true selves together
Drinks, jukeboxes and hugs
Poets, accountants, lawyers and others
All really just boys and girls released from pretence
Because bullshit walks and we sit and joke
And really really laugh like so rarely
Whichever doomed relation dominated my words
The spirit was really of platonic bonds
And I swell with pride when I think of you and the journies we are taking
And wish for decades more of this
I'm afraid that one day too soon
I'll be sat in another bar
Far from your relatives and achievements
The only one remaining, stubborn body sustaining
The weight of lonely tears uncried
I've been blessed, insulated, from much tragedy
Which means there could be so much to come
So the next time the circle closes, however many of us sit within
For me it will be the sweetest taste of freedom
To laugh just one more time with you