WHAT IS A FRIEND, ANYWAY?

Much peace. For Day 6 of National Poetry Writing Month, the prompt is:

Try writing with a breezy, conversational tone, while including at least one thing that could only happen in a dream.

Here is my poem:

WHAT IS A FRIEND, ANYWAY?

By Farah Lawal Harris, 2026

What is a friend, anyway,

but a contestant I crowned

Miss Universe first place,

making me smile ‘til it hurts?

It hurts so much to lose them, too,

more than scraping my knee

down to the white meat,

more than bites from an angry bumblebee,

more than being ghosted by some fool

who don’t even deserve me—

the type you tell, ”I have a man “

and he replies with a corny line like:

“Well, can you have friends?”

I tried. I really tried to be blasé

about all the unanswered hey’s

and the ignored “Happy Birthday,”

but the melted wax and ice cream cake,

like burnt vanilla tears,

dripped hot and cold down my face

and slid straight into my socks,

and ooh, chile!

One thing I cannot stand

is being hot and cold at the same time.

I had to walk away.