THE DAY WE RAN AWAY (Poem)

Poetry
Written By Farah Lawal Harris

Much peace. For Day 2 of National Poetry Writing Month, the prompt is:

Write your own poem in which you recount a childhood memory. Try to incorporate a sense of how that experience indicated to you, even then, something about the person you’d grow up to be.

Here is my poem:

THE DAY WE RAN AWAY

By Farah Lawal Harris, 2026

We snuck out to play,

tip-toed past Gramma’s soft snoring

after her stories.

Angels must’ve carried our unsupervised,

six-ish-year-old selves

down the steep hill, across Maple Ave.

unscathed.

All the way up

at the playground,

I swung high,

daring my tiny feet to touch the sky,

relishing in friendship that existed

before boys and bidis.

We headed home in ecstasy,

giggling, smelling like

outside and trouble,

felt sinking in tummies

upon seeing worried-sick

daddies and mommies

impatiently waiting

in the driveway,

heard the “Where were you?!” cacophony,

tasted hot tears and the fear

that the freedom I felt frolicking

was vanishing.

Farah Lawal Harris

Farah Lawal Harris is an artist and breast cancer survivor who inspires people to overcome obstacles and be well. Through vulnerable storytelling, writing, and theatre, Farah makes people feel less alone and more able to tap into their personal power to be their best, creative selves.

https://www.farahlawalharris.com
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BODY TANKA (Poem)