Here's to my friend, who listened so late,
And waited for loathing of self to abate,
Who said, 'You are who you are now, that's what counts',
And for the past, gave not an ounce.

For one who was there when I needed a voice,
To tell me that there was more than one choice,
Who could see the woman I felt deep inside,
The one that I kept veiled, and thought I could hide.

But into the light my friend drew her out,
Told me to let her shout what her life was about,
The joy of surviving, and the life she had borne,
No more to be sad, lonely, forlorn.

That friend turned a key I thought rusted and lost,
Drowned in the sea of despair and disgust,
It opened a gate that had been embossed
With the tarnish of time, cancelled and crossed.

And now, with a word, a nod and a grin,
A life put on hold is set to begin,
That was then, this is now, a flicker of light,
Moved wings to unfold and launch into flight.

Here's to my friend, you know who you are,
The face in the ether, the pub or the bar,
Wherever I found you, 'tis no reason or rhyme,
'Tis that I found you, at the right time.