NoHoldsBarredPoetryWritingChallenge Day 21: Dear, so-called friends

If you don't like me, tell me.
Don't give me a false sense of
security, fly me out to paradise
just to send me to hell battered 
and bruised. Sever this friendship
before you sever my spine. Your 
smile is like the Cheshire Cat. 
You disappear while the grin
remains, haunting me as I lie
dying. 

Was it worth it to humiliate
me, to record my final breaths,
turn my naked body into a
spectacle for digital eyes?
You hate me—I know that. But
judgment knocks on your door
and counts the nights you
have remaining. 

You can't go on lying.
God brings what is done in
darkness to light, and when 
that day comes, your sins
will be exposed, and you, 
as in the parable of the rich 
man, will gaze up from eternal
fire, where there will be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth, and 
scream for my Lazarus, for mercy, 
and I, shinning like the sun in 
the kingdom of the One who 
saved me from your betrayal, 
will look down upon your 
anguish and torment and 
repeat the words of my Father:

Depart from me, 
workers of iniquity.
I never knew you.
 

© 2022 Nortina Simmons

The story of Shanquilla Robinson is truly a heartbreaking one. There are too many stories of young women murdered by “friends” who secretly hated them. I hurt for her family. I pray they find peace and justice.