they say you cannot measure friendship
perhaps that is true
i think about all the smiles
to cover all that distance
perhaps i should measure it in miles

who knows –
what the future holds
all those stories
not yet told
all those buildings
that we must mould

someone scares me
unpredictable,
angry,
repressed,
high on bitterness

i will be honest
once you insisted i had ‘autism’
or a form of…
once i had asked you to listen
but you did not
once i had explained

unshakable belief
like the dog
with the bit between its teeth

i feel numb
and i feel scared
excited –
yet somehow not prepared

there are those –
who do not like to be confronted
who do not like people –
to express opinions
particularly when they express themselves

and i do feel shame
despite what some people are told
i am not the picture painted
then how could they know
when we have never been acquainted