Fissured Friendship

I once stood with you to fight a cause.
Shoulder to shoulder we pushed with force.
There was meaning to our actions with a purpose and goal.
But now we stand face to face and you aren’t the leader I had willingly followed.

Somehow, I became the representation of another’s fault.
I see in your eyes the hatred I incite, and I feel the emptiness of a profound loss.
I never identified with the other’s amoral purpose.
But I can’t justify your actions and say you are fighting for a cause.
This chaos isn’t building a scaffolded structure to support any goals.

What do you want me to know by burning me to the ground?
What do you need me to learn by forcing another to take you down?
Are you going to hate me for defending what’s mine?
I never wanted to fight and now my action to protect my rights is proof of all which is wrong?
What do you expect of me now I am left to rebuild what you destroyed?

I am not sure what my immediate response will be passing you on the street.
But I fear even more you won’t reflect on the true origin of an adverse approach.
How can I even speak with you without worrying you are assuming my thoughts?
You once knew me well and knew where my moral compass points.
It viscerally hurts that you assume I would be privy to such a primitive ethical code.

But guess what I think now that I’m forced to accept the choices you made.
They are alarming and intimidating, which may very well have been your intention.
I witnessed your evolving principles warp the foundations we once commonly protected.
Now I hold fear which would never have surfaced without cause for suspicion.
But don’t misattribute its presence; I still hold true to the justice we both solicit.

I’m defensive only against where and how you direct your deliberately threatening motives.

You’re stripping humanity from those who previously would never oppose you.
Do you feel justified now I am more alert and wearier of what you will do next?
Our friendship was solid and without doubt, fear and fault.
That is until I realized I may need to protect myself after all.

Though we now stand with significant distance apart,
I have never and will never support the other’s principles and thoughts.
No matter how much you want me to fit that abhorrent mold.
Now I’m left cleaning up my shattered expectations while you move on without reflection.