You thought she was your friend
and then you saw her s.
Her lower case i, with the
circle, the actual circle
instead of a dot.
Your whole idea of her went
crashing sideways.
She’s not your friend. She would never
have been your friend.
She would’ve made fun of you maybe,
or not even noticed you.
Her handwriting says popular girl.
It says sweater set. It says Barbie, Ken,
cheerleader, sorority, peacoat.
It says cruelty. It says mean.
Or rather it says nice, nice, nice.
And maybe she hid behind it.
And maybe she grew out of it,
or would have, if she’d had time.