When the First Friend Dies
by Kay Kestner:
When the First Friend Dies
We stepped into the dim space, mid-afternoon,
eyes pinned to sunlight burned by stained-glass
abstracts of resurrection.
It was only by accident.
Never would we have asked for that moment.
Our words were lost in the doorway,
the entrance and exit of all we were and would be.
We were made instant orphans. And friends.
We no longer had the right to be children.
Death was a destination that took a lifetime to reach,
or so we believed. But we were sixteen.
And so was she.
We approached her slowly,
drifting down the aisle as if each of us
were a virgin bride about to marry the Devil.
We did not wear white.
Closer to the wooden box made for her,
we felt no nearer. She was the weight we carried.
On our backs were the dreams of the dead,
the future of a friend, that, from then on,
we would only refer to in past tense.
We stood like a shadow at her side.
With her flesh the color of a kind ghost,
she laid in a stillness none of us could possess.
Where was her breath?
There was an innocence in all
the questions we dared not ask.
We each, in turn, touched her,
leaving in the cedar coffin
a piece of who we were.
Together we turned away as one shadow
creeping slowly to the back of a church
that we had never attended before.
We stared more than we listened,
and it was only her father’s words
we heard.
“So much is left undone.
We must do what she taught us to do.
We must live and love to live.”
His words were twilight to us.
There was much work
we would have to do
in that long night.
© Written March 12, 2000 – Kay Kestner
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Do Something for Democracy
The resources on the Do Something for Democracy page give you ways you can take action. Find what fits your comfort level. No one can do it all, but we all can do a little something.
Given the rapid changes to our government in the United States, it’s vitally important for us to speak up. Silence and apathy will only embolden a leader who serves his own agenda – an agenda that undermines democracy both within the US and around the world.
Every small act adds up when we all “do something.” Even if it’s just making one call, once a week to one of your representatives – that adds up!
Kay Kestner 
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