You would not expect
to feel alone
amidst a team of five,
but the balance is precarious
and all is not
as it seems.

​

I've known them all for years
we've worked, joked
worried,
shared sadness and joys
supported
laughed and hugged
each other.

​

We traded ideas,
shared new knowledge
thrashed out theories
encouraged, praised
and cared
for each other.

​

I thought we had hewn
firm foundations
of trust
friendship
respect

​

I was wrong.

​

So when the drip drip
of hearsay,
stifled truth …
and arrogance
crushed
honest questioning
I became

​

a stranger

​

alone,
isolated,
desolate,

​

in that room,

​

in the midst,

​

of my team.