There is something so tragic

about a girl who is

Alone.

She told us last year

in front of our whole class

that there was nothing worse than being

Alone.

Our teacher didn't understand

and she told him

that there was nothing worse than

not having people behind you

helping you

cheering you on.

and that was being

Alone.

And now she's jumping all the hurdles

and fighting with her demons

Alone.

She is barely my friend

so she did not tell me this.

This is a secret that I must not

tell anyone else,

not even her.

It is mine

Alone.

I know she did not tell her friends

because they make fun of her

on social media,

the way they do to all their friends.

They mean no harm

they do like her, really.

They do not think she is

Alone.

I imagine her texting them

poking jokes at one another

poking jokes at her

and feeling

Alone.

If she had told her friends,

and if they really were her friends,

they would be more careful with their words.

They'd try harder to make her not be

Alone.

Why didn't she tell them?

Was it that her biggest fear

convinced her that trusting them would

leave her

Alone?

If they really were her friends,

trusting them could save her.

But now this is what makes her

Alone.

I can not tell her what to do

I can not show her that she needs to trust them.

We are barely friends

I'm not supposed to know.

Her secret is my own.

And thus I can not really help her

realize she is
Not Alone.