Afternoon Tea

I try to remember my friend Raahil

As he was before the war broke out—

When our parents said we shouldn’t

Be friends anymore. We used to meet

After school and drink tea like British

Men and laugh and make fun while

Secretly hating the stuff his Mom

Fixed for a snack. We used to meet

On winter weekends and he’d talk about

Muhammad, and I about Jesus, while

Secretly hating the way our parents

Made us believe. We used to meet

To play but our parents made us stop.

I wonder if he is okay, and if he still

Secretly hates the way, as do I, our

Families loved us.