Twelve. Keyboard warrior

 

Afraid of everything:
a handsome man’s smile,
her friends’ piss taking,
her father’s judgements,
the way the man in the shop
looks at her,
tube doors and her own brightness.
At night
by the light of the cold blue screen glare
she becomes a warrior;
a fierce maiden.
Her fingers touch the keys and
as the text unfurls she can flirt outrageously
with the best profiled man; diss the friend of a friend
of a friend
on Facebook and argue passionately
with Livinginabubble and Curmudgeonlysod.
She can wrestle
with the biggest of trolls.
When she goes to bed at last, exhausted
from her battles, bravery
and triumphs
she dreams of speaking softly with her father.