Illusions

It's a fond conceit that people
cling to, that old adage that
absence makes the heart grow fonder.
In the hope that if one believes it
and it has been articulated as an
article of belief, it must be true. But
there are other truths as well, equally
reflective of humanity that absence,
lack of physical presence serves to
make the break that the mind
recognizes as distance equalling
disaffection, setting aside the warmth
of familial memories and that other
dog-eared belief that blood is thicker
than water. When, in fact, coexistence
between neighbours and friends marks
a constant of presence and familiar
faces engender the familiarity of
habit and commonality of purpose
so when people in need turn to others
it is often not to those who are by
happenstance or alternately deliberate
action distant and remote, but to those
whose presence is assuredly immediate.