There’s poison in the well

Put there by a trusted friend

One I’ll never trust again

Who proclaimed to love me, yet

Roped in those around us

To belittle and betray,

Convinced to participate in the fantasy

That anger and confusion

Collude to entangle

The otherwise level-headed.

And now there’s poison in the well

A place once vibrant and green

Turned to brackish death

That not only harms me

But all who sip from its waters.

To what end, this madness?

For the sin of refusing

To look another in the eye and say

“We both are human.”