Shel Silverstein

Friendship

Friendship - meaning Summary

Friendship as Instruction

This brief, wry poem presents a playful and ironic claim that friendship can be made permanent by commanding someone and having them obey. In plain, childlike language it compresses a larger observation about power and reciprocity in relationships: treating friendship as unilateral control is humorous but also unsettling. The poem invites readers to notice how obedience substitutes for mutual care and to question what keeps friendships genuine.

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I've discovered a way to stay friends forever-- There's really nothing to it. I simply tell you what to do And you do it!!

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