Remember Those Who Molded You

I would like to share a poem (by an anonymous poet) which left an indelible impression on me.

Around the corner I have a friend
In this great city that has no end.
Yet the days go by and the weeks rush on,
And before I know it a year is gone!

And I never see my old friend’s face,
For life is a swift and a terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine, though we were younger then,
And now we are busy tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.

“Tomorrow,” I say, “I will call Jim,”
Just to show that I’m thinking of him.
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And the distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner­­- yet miles away,
Here’s a telegram, sir: “Jim died today.”
And that is what we get and deserve in the end,
Around the corner, a vanished friend!