SISTA FRIEND
Hey y’all!
For Day 2 of National Poetry Writing Month, the writing prompt is:
Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a platonic love poem. In other words, a poem not about a romantic partner, but some other kind of love – your love for your sister, or a friend, or even your love for a really good Chicago deep dish pizza. The poem should be written directly to the object of your affections (like a letter is written to “you”), and should describe at least three memories of you engaging with that person/thing.
Here’s my poem:
SISTA FRIEND
By Farah Lawal Harris, 2024
Sista friend, ‘member when
we barely knew each other?
Stuck with each other involuntarily,
tight smiles concealed rolled eyes and sucked teeth
til a fateful Saturday when we saw red and entered the ring,
bumped heads and locked horns.
Both on that bull, dug black platforms in deep,
counted to 3, then released
only to realize: “Ooh, you kinda cool! I see you!”
Fast forward to
“Got a light skinned friend look like Michael Jackson,”
anybody step wrong,
I be ready for that action,
Hit mid-30s, got families,
sporadic interaction,
then tragedies hit
and we searching for compassion.
What happened?
We had to learn this about friendship:
“Don’t shit stick when you ain’t consistent.”
I insisted on releasing you,
mailed a tear-soaked envelope
stuffed with five handwritten pages of heartbreak;
you replied with a ten-paragraph essay of sincerity.
Then healing happened as honesty
melted masks for words to be heard fully.
Sis, you’re an indelible part of my story.
Who knew so much misery
could be resolved simply
by apologizing and taking accountability?
We were both sorry.
Sista friend, ‘member when we
fell out, then reconciled?
Reintroduced ourselves and
now we smile,
continuing, growing in tandem,
strikingly parallel journeys.
Thank you for still loving me.
