User's Manual
if you want comfort over clarity Put this manual down now
User's Manual
I come with no assembly required
but some warnings apply
handle with honesty
not gentleness
I am not porcelain
I am river rock
already worn smooth
by heavier currents
than yours
when I go quiet
don't mistake it
for distance
sometimes I am simply
listening to something
you can't hear yet
I work best
in the early morning
when the valley still
clings to the fog
and again at dusk
when the deer come down
from the ridge
do not ask me
to choose between solitude
and companionship
I need both
like wolves need
the pack
and the long hunt
alone
I will tell you the truth
even when it cuts
especially when it cuts
if you want comfort
over clarity
Put this manual down now
feed me silence
feed me laughter
feed me questions
that have no easy answers
I starve
on small talk
I give loyalty
not conditionally
but absolutely
once you are in
you are in
like a tree root
splitting bedrock
but I also give space
I will not cling
or require constant proof
trust me to return
from my wandering
like the river
always finds its way back
to the same stones
do not try to fix me
when I am processing
grief or doubt
just sit beside me
faithful and quiet
until I am ready
to walk again
I forgive slowly
I never forget
this is not a flaw
this is a feature
wolves remember
who fed them
and who left them
expect poetry
at odd hours
expect me to notice
the shape
of light on water
and stop everything
to watch it
I do not need you
to complete me
I need you
to meet me
where I already am
whole and hungry
for something true
when I love
I love like a forest fire
consuming and bright
and when it passes
the soil is richer
for what burned
so if you're looking
for easy
for manageable
for someone who
fits in a frame
keep looking
but if you want
the kind of friend
who remembers
what you said three years ago
who will drive through the night
if you call
who will tell you
when you're wrong
and stay anyway
here I am
brave enough
to read your manual
and still say yes



This is a rare friend, the honest yet loving one. I'd like a friend like that, may have had one at one time, but they're gone now.
By the way, anybody else notice how weird that illustration is?