BOOTS WITH THE FUR (Poem)

Hey, y’all.

For Day 5 of National Poetry Month, the prompt is to write a poem in which laughter comes at what might otherwise seem an inappropriate moment – or one that the poem invites the reader to think of as inappropriate.

Here is my poem:

BOOTS WITH THE FUR

By Farah Lawal Harris, © 2023

My sis told me about another sister

who she took to the club with her;

our girl stepped out with boots with the fur

and scrunched her nose up

at any man who looked at her.

Her behavior made for an awkward night.

The story made us laugh loudly

because it was so her

to be herself so proudly

wherever she’d go.

We didn’t know she would go

from here within a few years.

At her funeral, between tears,

my sis and I recounted that story

and laughed quietly.

Funny, bittersweet memory.

What I wouldn’t give to see

those boots with the fur.

Whenever I hear Flo-Rida,

I think of her.