A Poem for Exchangees

[Sent to me by Jaja Gaston]

Around The Corner

-By Henson Towner

Around the corner I have a friend
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the 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.

If, we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of 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, And
distance between us grows and grows.
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.