False friends who don’t want you to rise

False friends who don‘t want you to rise

Keep Your Enemies Closer

They nod like saints with sugar breath

tongues curled in gossip’s cradle

smiles wide enough to swallow trust

while watching who you lean toward

They sit close, call you sister

study every blink and breath

memorise your rhythm

then pass it on

to vultures waiting with knives

They don’t need to hate you

they just want to climb

and you’re in the way

so they smile, and bleed you slow

Every compliment costs

every hug hides a price

they wrap their spite in soft tones

and serve it up as concern

They don’t burn bridges

they light yours from beneath

then watch the fall

with wide, innocent eyes

They sharpen each move you make

into a weapon for someone else

cut your voice into headlines

and sell it for the thrill

So keep them close,

those velvet liars with dagger hearts

let them think you’re blind

then watch them slither away like snakes.