Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A friend is someone who likes you...



or even a white mouse



A tree can be a different kind of friend.
It doesn't talk to you, but you know it
likes you, because it gives you apples...
or pears... or cherries...
or, sometimes, a place to swing.




A brook can be a friend in a special way.
It talks to you with splashy gurgles.
It cools your toes and lets you sit
quietly beside it when you don't feel
like speaking.


The wind can be a friend too.
It sings soft songs to you at night
when you are sleepy and feeling lonely.
Sometimes it calls you to play.
It pushes you from behind
as you walk and makes
the leaves dance for you
wherever you go,
and that's how you know
it likes you.



Sometimes you don't know who
are your friends.
Sometimes they are there all the time,
but you walk right past them
and don't notice that they like you
in a special way.


and move very slowly,
and look around carefully,
to see someone who smiles at you
in a special way...
or a dog that wags its tail extra hard
whenever you are near...
or a tree that lets you climb it easy...
or a brook that lets you be quiet
when you want to be quiet.
Sometimes you have to find your friend.


Some people have lots and lots of friends

and some people have quite a few friends...

but everyone...
everyone in the whole world
has at least one friend.
Where did you find yours?

(book written by Joan Walsh Anglund, first published 1959)

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