note: i wholeheartedly believe for a close friendship to sustain, you have to be just a little in love with your friends. so i wrote a poem about it. well…i wrote two. i couldn’t decide if the free verse or rhyming version hit harder. read it and let me know :))

free verse:

a little in love

i think
to be truly close to someone
you have to be
at least a little in love

not in the way that asks for more
not in the way that needs naming
but in the way that makes you notice
the smallest, quietest things
and hold them like treasure

like how she’s sunshine in human form,
how she makes me feel like i can do anything
just by the way she believes in me
how she’ll always choose joy,
even when it’s hard,
and somehow, that makes me want to as well

like how he tilts his head back when he laughs
like the whole world’s tilted too, just for a second
sometimes i don’t even get the joke,
but i laugh anyway
because he’s laughing
and that’s enough

or how, whether it’s 0 miles or 3,500 or 7,500,
i always smile when i talk to him
how he thinks too philosophically about everything
and it scares him to feel too much
but he let himself anyway,
just for me
and that makes me feel trusted
in a way i can’t explain

it’s little things, too,
like knowing their go-to pizza order
or which sweater they’ll grab when it gets cold
or that their favorite hobbies are all chaotic,
like saving their voice memos
because you like the way they say your name
like sending them memes at 2am
because no one else would get the joke

it’s letting your heart catch
when they’re hurting
and staying quiet next to them
because presence says more than words ever could

it’s wanting them to win
even when you’re losing
and meaning it with your whole chest

and maybe “in love” isn’t the right phrase
but it’s the closest thing i’ve got
to explain the kind of care
that makes you want to remember
the sound of their laughter
and the shape of their joy

and being a little in love
doesn’t mean crossing lines
it just means loving deeply,
without apology

and honestly,
i hope i’m always
a little in love
with the people i call mine

rhyming:

a little in love

i don’t mean just care.
i mean something more,
like your heart lifts a bit
when they walk through the door

it’s not quite romance,
but it still makes you ache,
like you’d break just a little
if they needed space

it’s watching them speak
and forgetting the room,
like they’re the only thing
that could ever resume

it’s the way that they laugh
and you store it away,
like a secret you visit
on lonelier days

it’s the pride that you feel
when they’re shining so bright,
like part of you helped
ignite all that light

it’s jealousy, too,
though you’d never confess,
when someone else sees
what you cherish the best

because being their friend
feels holy, enough,
but only because
you’re a little in love

not to own them or keep them
or beg them to stay,
just to hold all they are
in the softest of ways

and that’s what i think
the best friendships require:
not just warmth,
but a slow-burning fire 

a flicker that’s gentle,
but never quite ends,
you have to be
just a little
in love with your friends