Growing up without the comfort of genuine friendship shapes more than just your childhood; it writes itself into the lens with which you perceive and navigate the world. I have written poems about this before, but not really from the perspective of how friendships affect your changing perception of the world. As a young child, my worldview was more innocent – everyone was inherently good and capable of kindness. But as I transitioned into teenage, reality hit me with some really harsh lessons. Most of my childhood innocence was shattered through bullies in the disguise of friends. Bullies, who with their cutting words, shattered a lot of my belief system…