my friends

i want friends who show up on my team in stress dreams

who walk with me towards integrity

and find the ways to say the hard things

i want friends who count on me as a real caregiver to their little ones

who hit the harmony and crack my belly open with jokes

i want friends who will always jump in the photo booth and insist that we moon the camera

friends who see through my many strategies but mostly let them be

who will kiss my face at midnight and then bark BITCH GO TO BED

i want friends who honor rupture and sanctify repair

who can create play from stale air

friends that i can feel at my back like strong hands

and at my sides like a nearby warmth

friends whose love travels forwards and back

as we were, are, and will be

thank you, my beloveds

you are all this and infinitely more