A Friend Passed Away On a Saturday Night

On nights like these stones find their way
in to my throat and keep the words from flowing
Know you put them there, stones and words and
a part of me i forget to check the time but it doesn’t
matter because the hours stop for no one and only
Death knows the horizon i know reflections
On nights like these i catch my tears in sunflowers
Because they remind me of you and then i ask God
why he leaves me with thread and broken canvas
when i demand the tapestry i cannot rely on memory
i catch the sunlight in an empty room and mistake it
for your smile i break my poems into pieces because
they will never be enough On nights like these i
curse the moon for shining and then repent
i knew you for seconds and an eternity and i
am sorry that it will never be enough
On nights like these i sink into the murky
river and notice how the Carp beg for air
i touch the sky and the clouds bleed
a thousand colors i touch the sky and
remember all the brilliant days my
friend will never see again i touch the sky
and thank you for giving me so many

By Marissa Michel

Biography:

Marissa Michel is a second generation American of Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage. She served as the 2020 Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate. In 2020 she received multiple national gold medals for poetry in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards, and an American Voice nomination. She was also the recipient of the 2020 Diaz-Mattison Poetry Prize. Her newest works can be found in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Online Gallery, Love Letters To the Mothers and Fathers of the African Diaspora, and the Bridgewater International Poetry Festival. More information about her can be found on www.marissamichel.com