Around the Corner

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end;
Yet days go by and 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 terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well
As in the days when I rang his bell
And he rang mine. We were younger then;
And now we are busy tired men—
Tired with playing a foolish game;
Tired with trying to make a name.
“Tomorrow,” I say, “I will call on Jim,
Just to show that I’m thinking of him.”
But tomorrow comes—and tomorrow goes;
Around the corner—yet miles away. . .
“Here’s a telegram, sir.”....”Jim died today!”
And that’s what we get—and deserve in the end—
Around the corner, a vanished friend.

Compliments of Dale Miller