The friendship plant, or Pilea, is quite literally the gift that keeps on giving. I’ve had mine for a while now, and it keeps producing offshoots that I plant in tiny pots and pass along. Sometimes though, the offshoots are many, and my time is little! Right now, there are four or five shoots that would be happy to be re-potted. I have the pots, but I’m out of soil. It’s such a good process though, because the act of passing them on is a delight. When they’re ready for a new home, one has to take a moment, organize a meeting, or a drop-off. You have to take time for a friend.

My usual tendency is to hide out, to be a hermit, when I’m not at the day job, but recently have had some lovely opportunities to meet with friends, online and in person. And I need to cultivate these more, especially before it gets really cold here and I’m less inclined to want to get out. We need to make a point to fill ourselves up. I need to, as JGO says below, let the bitterness sink to the bottom of my life. Allow myself to take the joy to go. And this is found, often, in the company of good people, good friends, and yes, often in the company of women.

In the Company of Women

by January Gill O’Neil

Make me laugh over coffee,
make it a double, make it frothy
so it seethes in our delight.
Make my cup overflow with your small happiness.
I want to hoot and snort and cackle and chuckle.
Let your laughter fill me like a bell.
Let me listen to your ringing and singing as Billie Holiday croons above our heads.
Sorry, the blues are nowhere to be found.
Not tonight. Not here.
No makeup. No tears.
Only contours. Only curves.
Each sip takes back a pound,
each dry-roasted swirl takes our soul.
Can I have a refill, just one more?
Let the bitterness sink to the bottom of our lives.
Let us take this joy to go.

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Years ago, I wrote a post on “literary loneliness” and it might pair well with this post.

October 20, 2021