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.