Nursery Crime: How Are You My Friend?

Oh dear,

I fear

My friend

Is on the brink

Sparkle and sunshine

Overlay the grey,

A pretty disposition

Hides lying again

The veneer of good cheer

Has worn eggshell thin,

Cracked china laughter

Hints what’s within

I try to decide

If it’s my business to pry,

Break you with a well-aimed question

Or wait till you slide

As I observe I look I see

Your façade fragmenting

To reveal

maggoty anxiety

A subtle nudge is all it would need;

You think I’m your friend

But its forensic intrigue

That draws me in

So paper over your cracks

And consider who surrounds you,

Now horses and men have left to

Fight more important wars

Circular thinkers can’t tell a fake

And only the desperate

Subconsciously take

A devil for a friend

Oh, I promise I’ll put you

Together again

But, my dear,

You’ll never be quite the same

Maybe I pushed you

And maybe you fell

But there’s nobody left here

And no one to tell.