My childhood friends

My childhood friends, where have you gone?
You used to be right by my side
You used to follow me around in the school yard
You used to stand waiting for me against the bike racks anticipating the sound of that first bell
that bell signaling we were let out of our cages and were free
I bounced on heels so high ready to greet you both
eager to take that long walk home
Together we walked, we skipped, we laughed;
we shared sandwiches and stories of adolescent toils with each other
and the asphalt beneath our feet

My friends where did you go?
It's like you vanished to some other place
Lingering in the atmosphere, beside the notes we passed that were thrown away, and our secrets whispered in the staircase,
Our bond was broken,
the day we turned 17
When in an instant everything I knew just went away
Puberty came and changed the rules,
Of the game we played after school.
You hid away from the only friend you had
as if you had forgotten the days when you used to follow me around incessantly
How do you deny what once was, as if it never had even been

Today I know you are out there
Many others have taken my place
Maybe they do a better job
In your mind
Than I ever did
But I know the truth
the truth which you hath denied.