To JoAnn Snow on Women’s History Month

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

ODE TO A FRIEND

Casual friends will often tell you
they’ll love you through thick and thin;
their love is without condition,
and they’ll love you until the end.

But when times are good it’s easy to love,
and proclaim devotion as friend;
it’s when the champagne is gone, and the music ends,
that true friendship begins.

It’s when times are gloomy
and the party is over,
when one truly needs a friend,
and at times like those
you can always depend
on my friendship kickin’ in.

Friendship
represents the meeting of two souls,
entwined in a comfortable embrace;
Not always sensual, but warm like family,
in this cruel and unfriendly place.

Friends
validate their own existence,
lending independence to the soul;
They slay their dragons from a warm cocoon,
with a kindred spirit to console.

Friendship,
like a poem,
is the sweet breath of God,
as he sings to a loved one’s ear;
A love song scored by a master,
but not always
for the masses to hear.

So,
sincere of heart
I sing my song
to one so warm and dear;
Your smile is
a treasured work of art,
and its essence
will always keep me near.

Eric

Thank you, baby, for constantly pushing me, checking on me when I fall off the radar, and always being there to nurse this Black man’s wounds.  Yeah, I’ve noticed.

A Song for You

Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everyone who doesn’t look, think, and act like me – it’s just that God does.

Eric L. Wattree

Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, The Black Star News in New York, and a Staff writer for Veterans Today. He’s also the author of A Message From the Hood.