The weight of friendship rests on me so lightly,
sits so rightly on my heart,
that I can carry it a hundred years.

The bands we braid of self-respect delight me,
hold me tight and let me start
to range beyond the edge of common fears.

Less weighty than a dandelion seed
and more ephemeral than gossamer
are what you ask of me. To meet that need
unneedful, to attend the low murmur
beneath your conversation: these are light
obligations. They are friendship’s right.