Australia Lets Off Fireworks

There are those

Who live a world away

Yet I can hear them cheering me on

With great enthusiasm and vigour

But here you are

Just next to me

And you are silent

You are not my fan

But I am expected to be yours

You ask me to view your artwork

And accomplishments

But you don't see

That I do so without prompting

Australia lets off fireworks for me

Although they are

A literal day away from me

Yet you are so close

And there is silence

I hear crickets chirp

From your direction

Instead of celebrating me

Your so-called friend

You enter stage left

When I am weakened

When I am ill

When I am preoccupied

You bring mayhem

Chaos

Destruction

Then you leave me

Feeling stricken and bewildered

I've become so numb to your storms

I throw silence at you

Because I have nothing else to give

Then you whine to me

You say I am not there for you

But I ask you

When are you there for me?

Remember that time

When I was broken

And you were broken, too

I told you I was shattered

And not in working order

I hoped you'd understand

And give me patience

The same patience I had given you

So many times

But you expected me

To pick up your broken pieces

To put them back together

Even as I scrambled to pick up my own

England is setting off firecrackers tonight

For me

But where are you?

New Zealand has just joined the fray

For me

But where are you?

Tunisia just threw a party

For me

But where are you?

I did not ask them to do these things

They're doing it out of love for me

I am overwhelmed by their support

Their encouragement and love

The rest of the world

Seems to be celebrating me

While you

Practically my next-door neighbour

And supposedly close friend

Sits in sour silence

Is it jealousy?

Is it selfishness?

I do not know

And frankly

I no longer care