Playground Nemesis

Bumped into you

-my playground nemesis-

just past the canal

in a trendy bar.

 

In the queue for the ladies

we feigned niceties,

albeit not

all that convincingly.

 

And I couldn't

help but notice

how very much

you 

now

look

like

a toad.

 

OK, not the most

mature response

I’ll admit.

But my god, 

there’s no denying it!

 

Your chin’s 

been swallowed

by a fat cushion

of skin.

It’s hard to tell

where your body

even begins.

 

Dear reader,

please don’t judge 

my schadenfreude

too readily,

without

a full account

of our history…

 

When the school yard

was our stomping ground,

I was the awkward kid

and you were the new girl.

 

You soon realised

my friendship 

was no hot commodity,

so swiftly and efficiently

got rid of me.

 

And then the little incident

involving the principal,

where nine year old me

cocked up monumentally

and called you 

“a fucking bitch”

-unleashing upon myself

a mighty storm of shit.

 

So allow me the small pleasure

of, 20 years later,

admiring your

amphibian transformation.

I see it as

fair compensation.