These Friends

There were others, of course, with whom I became friends.

There was Jim,

 who craved physical touch 

 almost to the point of aggression,

 and yet whose heart was so so sweet.

 A photographer with an artistic eye,

 my camera would disappear from my hand 

 [which--truth be told--was slightly stressful, 

since it had been loaned to me by a dear and loving friend 

and was outside of my price range to replace...]

 and would return with images like this.

 [Truth also be told: 

The level of responsibility these kids showed meant

  I really didn't need to be afraid he'd not take care of it...

which helped calm my retroactively beating heart,

when I saw this.]

There was his friend Daniel,

 who demonstrated quiet wisdom,

 poise.

His artistic skills were killer, 

[that's Mary's "killer" face...]

drawing portraits of each of us with amazing accuracy.

There was Tamar,

 my very good teacher,

 always helping me understand what was going on 

or bringing me water to drink,

with an uncanny ability to see 

and take care of what no one else noticed.

There was sweet and sensitive Esther,

 who would randomly appear with a smile,

 there was edgy Angela, and giggly Rebekah,

silently staring Judi,

 spunky little Ruth,

Silas, observant, quiet, and sweet.

Street smart Salome--

 no-nonsense but fun--

 bestowed upon me multiple bracelets

[though Chad was really her first love ...]

Then,

there was this little monkey,

 Martha,

 entertaining by far

as she chattered away in Chinese

and frequently shook her little booty 

without provocation [much to our delight...]

 And then there was Mary,

full of sweet 

 and fun

 and smart.

Her consistent soothing mechanism 

was to grab the nearest hair she could find,

 [I love this picture by the way, 

despite my crazy eyes...]

and suck her fingers to the death.

And often she would climb into my arms,

touch my mouth. 

"Bum", she'd sing, with a purposeful little nod of head,

 my cue to sing some melodic patterns 

[using the syllable "bum"] for her to copy. 

And copy she would, with perfect imitation, 

her little nose pressed up to mine.

These, 

my new

precious,

friends.