A Vanished Friend

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this great city that has no end;

Yet days go by and weeks rush on,

And before I know it a year is gone,

And I never see my old friend’s face;

For life is a swift and terrible race.

He knows I like him just as well

As in days when I rang his bell

And he rang mine. We were younger then;

And now we are busy, tired men –

Tired with playing a foolish game;

Tired with trying to make a name.

“Tomorrow,” I say, “I will call on Jim,

Just to show that I’m thinking of him.”

But tomorrow comes – and tomorrow goes;

And the distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner! Yet miles away …

“Here’s a telegram, sir … Jim died today!”

And that’s what we get, and deserve in the end –

Around the corner, a vanished friend.