Promised Chance

Friendships are formed over time, 

over coffee, over commonalities. 

Patience is required of a relationship, 

one more subtle than inhabited by 

colleagues or neighbours. 

   The intimacy is greater than 

   those whom we speak with 

   and them not spoken of.

Our outward signs of friendship are 

contractual sides of a story continually

writing itself in time; each chapter

develops character and setting, 

without plot. The narrative evolves.

   It is far from transactional.

A rightness of values, disciplined 

morality respected, never  

abandoned, for a promised chance 

at discovering a deeper meaning. 

   Never subliminal. 

   There is nothing subtle about it.

© 2026 j.g. lewis

                   APRIL 30 

POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY

Celebrate poetry by selecting a poem, 

carrying with you throughout the day

and sharing it with family, friends, cab

drivers, co-workers, your favorite yoga

teacher, barista, physician, cobbler, or

panhandler on the street. Strangers will 

smile, children may well clap, and you

might even get the occasional smile or

laugh. Whatever you do, however you

dare, this is a day to show the world

how poetry cares.

     You may already have a favourite poem,

     but I offer you this in case it’s not handy.

                                                  j.g.l.