The Chosen One

Unexpectedly, sensibilities are
being pricked and prodded, not
with the delicacy of a fine 
surgeon, reputation-aware,
but with the rugged brute force
of a day-labourer determined
to get the job done, swinging
his pick axe with a vengeance.


She, facing you directly,
insists on knowing what her
other friends have been saying
about her, and not to her.
Fully aware of your loyalty to
all those friends, she has chosen
you as the conduit to that gossip.


You bridle, reminding her
that you have never indulged in
back-handed drivel, have no
interest in what others may say 
even about you; tell her to ask them
directly for whatever it is she
is so eager to have knowledge of.


And you are led to the acute
discomfort of wondering
the value of such fraught
relationships, why one friend
is so willing to risk your
estrangement to satisfy her
egotistical journey toward
full and complete alienation.