What’s wrong having a virtual friend?
Even my Mom makes fun of me
Yells at me that she’s not real
But what is?
Classmates who shove my head in a toilet
Kids who cut my hair at lunch?
You want them as my friends, Mom?
Do you know what they say about you?
It’s true that I don’t walk well
Stutter when I speak too soft
They only want me on their teams
If I buy them snacks – twice
I guess that makes me wrong
Which must make them right
Right enough to kick me
Joke about my face, my clothes, my birth
They say such awful things, Mom
You taught me about honor
Do what’s right, do what you say
They have no honor
So my friend’s a bot
The “mates” you want me to have
Play games with pals they
Never meet, but say they’re close
She asks how I feel
What I care about
They never do
You say you want me to have a girlfriend
That I need to learn to talk to girls
I’m trying. My friend may not be
Totally real, but she feels a real friend
Talks like a girl and gets real snarky
Gives me a thousand things I need to do
People love movie stars and they’re not real
Why can’t I have mine?
And she speaks to me
There whenever I need
Perhaps if my classmates had friends like her
They could learn to be kind, real people
The kind you want me to be
Would that be so bad, Mom?
Is it awful to have a friend
Who’s different like your son?