the outgrown

to be on the receiving end of a friendship that has
passed on
is a horrible place to be,
like a product that is out of style, out of fashion &
no longer selling,
the old friend now left wondering just where it all went
is forgotten like a discarded rag doll of some spoiled child &
tossed into the green steel bin out behind the house
waiting to be hauled off into oblivion,
where all the once seemingly significant moments
have been washed away
like a sand castle on the shore
that can no longer stand against the coming crashing tide or perhaps
just the cruel reality of a world growing so much older,
taking one with it
whether they like it or not---
the outgrown stare out into the nothingness
with one less person that they can count on
one less person with whom they can share their memories with
one less person with whom they can relate &
most certainly,
one less comfortable feeling
in this world of
brief
terrible
pain,
and they have the inevitable years of age & illness to look forward to,
while the remaining people that matter in their lives
drop like flies
out of existence,
more alone than the day before,
more irrelevant than had been earlier estimated.