friend speaks
fails
to listen
–
tells me i should look on the bright side
–
peering
down from a high rise
obscured by the sun
–
words
soft as his sensibilities
unscathed
unmarred
unscarred
–
shudders at the the shallow burs
barely digging at his heels
–
they nag
occasionally
but his feet don’t bleed
–
look friend
at those puddles behind
beneath
my ragged shoes
leaking through holes formed from wear
turning black
drying with age
–
when i speak
it flows from these wounds
–
i’ve bore witness and
been subject to
the cruelty of friends and strangers
been injured by family
taken advantage of in youthful naivety and good nature
slept on peoples’ couches when i was driven from home
passed out in a line when i barely had money for food
never had the advantages and been sheltered from the harshness as you have
–
you stumble over bumps in your path and call them mountains
–
you have been told nothing
but sweet nothings
and it has made you weak