New Friend

As soon as I found my seat

In the back of the classroom

little did I know I’d meet 

someone and a friendship would bloom.

Before today loneliness

had held me very tightly

now it doesn’t suppress 

and the sun shines much more brightly

My new friend, a beacon of light

filled with jokes and sarcasm.

always laughing, not uptight

becoming part of the larger sum

that made 7th grade more fun

A new seat in English class 

the rest of the year a home run

despite how much we contrast

Why

A warm day in Maine

August sun shining brightly

My thoughts cast clouds

looming over me

Squeezing, grasping me tightly

How will she respond?

A new school, I say,

quite weakly, not mightily

“Why are you leaving?”

CDs

On the phone with my friend 

Waiting for October’s end 

Sorting through CDs

Treasures from the dusty bin 

Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston

“Find anything good?”

She asks, eager to hear

Yes, I reply,

loud and clear

Queen’s greatest hits, Elton John

A Kate Bush CD sits upon

Rolling Stone’s: Women in Rock

The Beatles, The Doors, 

Frank Sinatra, so much more

Amy Winehouse, Letters to Cleo-

“By good music, I meant Billy Joel. Not this old garbage you found.”

Ha ha, great joke.

I laugh, attempting to cloak

My sudden shock at her response

“No, I’m serious. Did you find anything good?

I don’t reply

Perplexed by the insults that underlie

Did I do something wrong?

Ushering

What time do I need to be there?

“I don’t know just don’t be late”

But I really need to know, or I’m going to my sister’s hockey game.

I go to the game.

The clock ticks down they’ve almost won!

“Be ready in 20 minutes” my phone chirps

I’m not going to be able to make it, I say, I’m at the game

“Screw the game! You made a commitment!”

Yes, but you never told me the time or date

“You moron! You absolute idiot! You total fool!”

And just like that, her anger unspooled

“You will be there with me, we will not be late”

“Tell your parents to drive you there right now.”

“You are going to be there or so help me, Skylar.”

I try to explain,

about how my grandparents are visiting, I have other commitments too. 

If you’d just told me when, if only I knew

But she didn’t want to hear it. 

“For all I care, put me on speaker and I’ll tell your mom myself”

Anxious anger bubbles inside me

Clawing its way up my throat

All this trouble, does she just want power over me?

I leave the game, tears jumping off my cheeks

I feel so lame, so puppet-like, and weak

Does she really think I’m an idiot? A moron?

When I arrive, she strives to make no apology

It was a joke after all, or it was to her. 

But now her jokes aren’t funny anymore;

this wasn’t one I’d heard before.

She forgets easily, but I can’t ignore

How deep her words cut.

Untrue Friend 

I have made an untrue friend

whose words erode at our friendship

Until there’s nothing left  

But a c a n y o n between us. 

I have made an untrue friend

Who makes me shaky on the inside,

( (C     L

O  D ) ),  her words a blizzard

Frostbite nipping at my heart

I have made an untrue friend

Who would set me on F I R E and watch as

I smolder in the heat

If it meant she would keep warm

However, I’ve let go of 

this untrue friend 

Who encroached over

Boundaries and lines, And 

claimed they were n e v e r t h e r e

My untrue friend, who showed me what friendship is.