Dandelions

All these pictures of you in your parents' scrapbooks show you smiling from cheek to cheek
These days your smile's becoming elusive and it scares me
They told me you always saw beauty even in the weeds around your feet
I wish I could do something to make you happy

But now your old friends tell me you're moving west again to L.A
While I'm staying behind in the city you grew up in, the place that you grew up to hate
I kept some dandelion seeds with me
I let them grow all over my yard
All the neighbors see are weeds, but they remind me of those pictures and how you saw good in everything

We've been close friends since that day we met, but lately you've been growing distant
You've distanced yourself from your family, your friends
And me thinking that isolation would make you happy
And that loneliness would heal the cuts that never stopped bleeding

Your old friends tell me you're moving west again without me or any other company
I called you time and time again, but you never picked up
I hope it's because you're somewhere sound asleep getting the rest that you need
I've seen some dandelions grow by the park bench you used to call home
When thoughts of your future kept you awake.
I'm sorry I couldn't alleviate any of your pain.

I'm hoping when you settle in to your new apartment you think of yourself
With something better than contempt
I wish you could stay behind, but maybe you're right
Maybe a change is for the best