Bring Lunch and Smokes

The text message read:
sick, a stupid friend
I stayed home
would you visit & bring lunch and smokes
Sorry 2 ask
I can pay U back

My how you've suffered with all of this
making yourself sicker by the glassful last evening
I judge you not for I have been there
many miles I have walked in your moccasins
In search of ease and comfort on a path well worn
I know the heartbreak that it brings for us
the confusion
loneliness
frustration
desperation
hopelessness

Awakened from a semi sleep state
by the phone's incessant ringing
I am glad that I answered
because it was you
Your confusion was evident
Your state apparent
Personally recognizable
Quietly familiar
Needlessly apologetic for it all

Your state today expected
although saddened by it
hopeful that it will change
if only for you

My answer sent a day or two late
technically challenged am I
regretfully late to be of no help
or comfort to you
at the moment that you
needed me most