False Friendship

They'll say you're their friend
A trusted companion, maybe a lover
Until the smiling facade falls away
Shreds,
Like skin from a wrinkled old potato.

When they think you aren't listening.
And mercilessness spills from their lips.

Not the kind of harmless gossip
That ladies squawk about
When they sit in high backed armchairs
Sipping tea in the noonday sun,
But the kind that cuts deep in your soul
Harsh and jagged like an old rusty razor blade

The words tumble out
And wash away the sandy wall of your friendship.
The words rip into your heart
Like a powerful river breaking a dam.
And you sit and stare, in disbelief
At the wreckage left behind.
Murmurs of the past

And you'll wish it all gets erased by the tide
No more smiles
No more glowing appearances
Just an empty sad silence.

When you give and you give
And expect nothing in return
Sometimes,
You end up with something you never wanted
You never asked for.
And yet,
Here it is.

Remnants of a time long past.
When you still believed that all beings
Had some light
Some beauty, some kindness inside

It's all just ashes now
To be washed away by the sea
Mixing with the sand castle of a false friend