Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him",
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.
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wonderful heartfelt poem
From guest Harry M. Dodd (contact)
Former Congressman Tip O'Neil always recited this poem at his ' old friend's renewal gatherings in Boston' -
Heart touch feeling
From guest nazeer (contact)
This is the poem which first I ready in one of Indias magazine CSR about 20years back and it touched me so deep that I memorized it complete and always sending to other friends and reminding the reality of life of us should not happen as what CH Towne described in this poem. Because it happens with most of the people that sometimes back they were very close friends and with time passes because of one or the other matter viz., struggle for survival they start going away and away and remain just think of the past whenever get sometime in the busy schedule of the life. -
sad
From guest jackie (contact)
i can quite understand ur poem here. because i moved from my twin brother a while back...and i kept meaning to call him ....and well then he died back in january. -jackie -
Timeless
From guest Candi Robinson (contact)
I copied this down 30 yrs ago. The message is timeless. The page I wrote it on is yellowed with age but the poem is as true today as when it was written in 1900. -
Amazing
One of the most beautiful sad pieces that I have ever read. It made me think of how fragile friendship can be if you choose not to fill the gap between you and your friends. A beautiful tragic meaning in here. I loved reading it! -
Makes me think of the song, The Cat in the Cradle (?) by Cat Stevens--a song that deals with a failed father-son relationship. This poem states so much about the risk of putting off friends. I guess it says something about why there are times we know to do the right thing but fail to--similar to smoking cigarettes--we know it can lead to health problems but...
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Awesome
I've gotten email after email containging this sad poem as it applies to me very much. It flows great and it is very easy to read out loud. Very clean style. -
His style is so clean and simple, yet there's so much to the poem itself. I think it's very true, and hasn't aged like other poems from that era.
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Human Nature
It's strange why we do this! Is it becausethose friends we meet along our pathway are there with us for a reason and we are never meant to spend our whole lives together or even close.
In modern life this still happens, even with the technology we have today when we have no excuse to go visit - technology didn't think of this did it?
Von -
Thanks for adding the missing line. When I read it, I saw that there was indeed something missing, but didn't know what till I read your note. -Thanks again.
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I have 3 variations of this poem and wonder which is right. In this poem there appears to be a line missing Line 13 is "Tomorrow" Isay! "Iwill call on Jim
Is the following missing Just to show that I'm thinking of him." It was my father in laws favourite poem.
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