Student Publishing Program ::

Kevin McElhatton

A Childhood Friend

A friend I have known since I was two,
Who left a large impact on my whole life.
Because he was older, he seemed to be wiser,
But later I saw that this was not true.

Whatever he liked, I seemed to like too,
The shows that he watched were the shows I watched too,
He was practically a brother, but not because he was a good friend,
But because he spent most of his time hanging out at my house

If his parents were not home, and his house were locked,
He would come over to mine, and watch TV,
Awaiting his parents’ return while watching Ed, Edd, and Eddy
We sat quietly enjoying the show

We always acted weird, out of the ordinary
We did whatever we were told was not normal
Eventually he gave in to the societies’ views
Yet to this day, I am still weird with my head held high

Over time, we both started to change
Yet unlike before, we were no longer the same
He experimented with drugs, whereas I had chosen not to,
Which shaped our futures, for better or for worse

The drugs he took broke our friendship
As he became more distant, and less of a friend
The drugs that he took harmed his life
Yet a shard of our friendship stood strong in the light

The day before he moved away, he came over to my house
And asked if I wanted to hang out with him
Even though he was hyper from the Ritalin he had taken,
I could tell that he was the same person from the golden age

For the first time in his life, he had told me
That drugs were bad, and would ruin one’s life
As he left me standing there completely shocked,
I had realized that nothing had changed, except for his addiction

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2013 EDITION]