To: A best friend

Andy.
I've discredited you far too often.
I've thought you to be one who pleases the masses,
One shallow and dumb.
I was at great fault for such.
You've proven me wrong through years of discussions.
Every pretension of men that I think, was broken or mended by you.
I expected you to be the first to leave.
Oh, contradictory, you have not, and promise you never will.
You are not gratuitous, and for that I am thankful.
Never do you pretend, and you're so awful at hiding your feelings.
But no one looks down on you for your honesty.
Rather, they appraise you for it. For your truth.

Brother.
Unnumbered, the things we have seen.
Standing side by side, gazing as the world tears itself down and then rebuilds.
Galloping after dreams that disappear like stars when morning breaks.
Mourning, but able to kneel before setting out again.
We've owned a fair share of quarrels and misunderstandings,
But a bond of the same goal knots us together as if we were blood.
Amidst our failures, after our Lord do we seek.
In these calamitous days when the sky dismounts,
And those we trusted got scared and run,
Seasons when to our parents we smirked,
And pushed through barbed wire gates without knowing why-
Somehow our alike love and need of the Savior has kept us from certain death.

Friend.
You are an answer to prayers I did not know I pleaded.
God knew I could not live alone.
God knew I needed a friend so strong.
One who “weeps with those who weep,
And rejoices with those who do rejoice.”
One who teases me without avail and throws snowballs in my face,
But in the same breath reminds me of my worth.
One who does not lead me astray,
But encourages me to live a life of purpose.
I am unable to thank you sufficiently.
Just know, I am forever grateful to God for you.
“Sometimes I'm a selfish fake, you're always a true friend.
I don't deserve you cause I'm not there for you,
Though how I wish I could be.”