A Poetry Contest Said to Write About Friendship

my best friend gave up her virginity for lent

freshman year of college

decided over dorm food and diet coke

she wore camo cargos

with lingerie

flies planes

and when men ask her to speak to the captain

she says

I. AM.

SHE. IS.

my steel-toed vagina

pure

heroine

with her hello kitty grilled cheese press

-dorm room fire hazard-

and that easy laugh with a slight

southern drawl

from down there in Illinois

where men fall asleep in their pancakes

at dingy diner countertops we frequent

on spontaneous road trips

It's been 18 years

our friendship

still as pure as we were

when

over gnocchi and soggy burgers

we blossomed

into

women