baby pals

and so, one cold night many lifetimes ago, the five stood solemnly in an empty garden, alongside a pink sandstone bench, under a huge tree with one overhanging limb, and swore to meet again a decade later. it was not meant to be a joke. the date was written -- march 12, 2005 -- as was the venue -- at the garden, by moonlight. and then, when the promise was made, they went away to their loves and lives, careers and wives.

in less than a year, by moonlight, they will come. the five. and the gods will look down and think, 'so some human beings really can love others for a prolonged period, that too with a love that only appears to grow.' and the gods will hold the five up as an example to the rest and say, 'if your friendship is of another kind, you must be doing something wrong'.

as march approaches, then, i sit and wait, patiently, as do four others spread across the city and outside. soon, it will be time for the mighty bleahs to walk in single file again, just like they did ten years ago, in another lifetime.