and loves are rarer still,
friend I am, for this I swear,
it's love that is my thrill.
Let me not confuse the air,
though Murphy says I will,
I can love in solitaire
one-sided, without ill.
Don't despair that I will fall
into some somber well,
I have had the wherewithal
to rise above the swell.
Now your leaving does befall
my life a minor hell,
I am not prepared to maul
my heart or say farewell.
Friendship is enough for me
but not if it decays,
friendship kept in vacancy
will surely slip the stays.
Only you know what can be,
if we can find the ways,
keeping friendship's primacy
throughout tomorrow's days.
If these feelings I confess
should cause you some alarm,
know that I would not offend
for I have meant no harm.
I don't mean to turn upend
your thoughts or to disarm,
I'll accept you, just a friend,
with all your grace and charm.
Truly know I love you much,
if friend is all that you
need of me, my love is such
that being friends will do.
If, instead, my love should touch
you and you feel it too,
know that I, with love, will clutch
the hope we might renew.
Jack Keller
This page was created June 2nd, 2000.
Melinda, 
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 by Jack B. Keller, Jr. of Pleasanton, Texas. All Rights
Reserved. Copyright protection extends to the written and digitally displayed poem as a whole or
in part. This material may not be reproduced or redistributed without the expressed
written permission of the Author.