All you had to say was that you lost someone
You didn't have to lose me too
We were by the lockers and you unwrapped

I asked how you were doing
I wasn't asking to swap gum
All you’d snap back was with a harsh “I’m fine”

You lose your flavor but I still kept chewing
You gnawed on me then spit me out
Just a stale was left in your mouth

I wanted to help you unveil the hurt
Stick with you like you were the wrapper
But even you weren't aware of the gum under your shoe

I could taste our friendship disintegrating like an old stick of juicy fruit

“you have reached the voicemail box of 773…”
i remember hearing this almost every time i called
it got to the point where i would leave a message

a slow, long, sad, message because i knew You wouldn't hear it
i cried myself to sleep often
my pillows were the only ones that knew my pain

it's been 9 years now mom
have You forgotten your baby girl?
or has she been replaced with a new colt 45?

i've grown up so much mommy.
i had my fair share of heartbreak and my fair share of loss in only 9 years
but where have You been?
have You even thought of me?


have You replaced me with a new brand of cancer sticks?
or just a simple plain crooked yellow smile?

do You think of me on my birthday?
...because i often find myself wondering where is she?
pleading to my pillows

that i am still that little girl you once upon a time loved so much
...just not so little anymore.

You never saw me when i hit the winning homerun on my high school softball team
or when i got the villager role in Beauty and The Beast
did you know i played softball?
or is it always about your empty bottles?

You never even knew i wrote poetry
let alone it being about...You!

you’ve done it for 9 years now
what’s 9 more gonna change?

there's so much I don't know about you anymore.
but i know one thing...Your life seems to be pretty good without me
so that's ok, i think my life is better off without You
and Your various new hobbies and addictions

so go back to that old rusty liquor store
keep living a life without me
because i will see You in Hell

not because i will be there too
but because i will be looking down on You
with a bottle in your left hand
and a death wish between your teeth