Hello, my Friend

I visited you today 

while you slept 

Your world was at peace 

I spoke to you 

Softly as I stood beside 

I spoke a quiet goodbye 

I spoke to your family 

We reminisced about yesterday 

We laughed about it 

We cried about it 

There was no discussion 

about the things left undone 

about the unfinished 

Your course was plotted 

And you have found conclusion 

Your part is finished 

We, the remaining 

accompanied 

by the size of the loss 

Will carry on 

We will leave this place 

the heaviness of the event 

mitigated only slightly 

by our shared grief 

And beyond this day

beyond the quiet roads home

your living will remain 

in the small, unguarded places—

in the habits we keep

in the stories we repeat 

In the ways 

we were changed 

without ever noticing 

You will move with us

into the ordinary days

into the years still forming

into the lives still unfolding 

because a life like yours

does not end

It continues to grow 

Tomorrow 

When I tell our stories 

It grows a little more 

Hello 

My friend 

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

February 8, 2026