A Friend or Two

This is one of the poems that Leilani shared at the birthday luncheon:

"A Friend or Two"

There's all of pleasure and all of peace
In a friend or two;
And all your troubles may find release
With a friend or two;
It's in the grip of the clasping hand
On native soil or in alien land,
But the world is made — do you understand?
Of a friend or two.

A song to sing and a crust to share
With a friend or two;
A smile to give and a grief to bear
With a friend or two;
A road to walk and a goal to win,
An inglenook to find comfort in,
The gladdest hours that we know, begin
With a friend or two.

A little laughter; perhaps some tears
With a friend or two;
The days, the weeks, the months and years
With a friend or two;
A vale to cross, a hill to climb,
A mock at age, and a jeer at time —
The prose of life takes the lilt of rhyme
With a friend or two.

The brother-sound the brother-heart
Of a friend or two
Makes us drift on from the crowd apart,
With a friend or two!
For come days happy or come days sad
We count no hours but the ones made glad
By the hale good times we ever had
With a friend or two.

Then brim the goblet and quaff the toast
To a friend or two,
For glad the man who can always boast
Of a friend or two.
The fairest sight is a friendly face,
The blithest tread is a friendly pace,
And heaven will be a better place
For a friend or two.

by Wilbur D. Nesbit