Hi J, I Decided to Rewrite What I Sent to You

By E. Ethelbert Miller

For June Jordan

our friendship
is what keeps us whole
love is essential as air

prayer contains desire
to worship is to open
the door to one’s heart

we were looking at
the ceiling and then
we saw the sky

Notes:

“Hi J, I Decided to Rewrite What I Sent to You” was originally published in How We Sleep on the Nights We Don’t Make Love (Curbstone Books, 2004) and is part of the folio “E. Ethelbert Miller: Friendship Is What Keeps Us Whole.” Read the rest of the folio in the November 2025 issue of Poetry.

Source: Poetry (November 2025)