I Tried to Find Them

But they have all gone on without me.

We were a crew,

We all worked together,

Lunched together,

Then I found out that one died,

The same age as me, but she died,

Then, three more.

All my age and younger

My God, they are all dead now,

I didn’t know about any of it,

Didn’t know when they left.

It’s been 28 years,

And I wondered what had become of them,

The ones with whom I laughed and laughed,

And talked of kids and husbands and lovers,

But just now I checked

And found the obituaries

Of the women, four of them,

Who were once my best friends.

I cannot fathom it,

It cannot be real,

But I feel the reaper,

Breathing down my neck,

I guess I’m on borrowed time,

Time my friends did not get.