How to Close the Door on Envy
A quiet practice in refusing comparison
Envy may linger, but it does not decide what enters.
🌑🚪
Before Envy comes -
🌑🚪
Your chest stretches,
A little taut.
You start to watch someone's hundreds -
And his naughts -
Against your own.
Little signs, not failures,
To note.
🌑🚪
Then pause.
Your life
Needs no ruler
Against his length.
His shadow does not close
Your door.
🌑🚪
Call his name.
Note the length
Of your own shadow-
Long enough.
No need
To compete.
🌑🚪
His shadow
Does not rise
To conquer.
Does not grab
Your gain.
Give thanks.
🌑🚪
Envy's shadow
Persists.
But your door
Can close
And lock.
Your shadow -
Not perfectly aligned-
But formed.
🌑🚪
Original poem by Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin. AI tags are coincidental
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About the Creator
Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin
Hi, i am an English Language teacher cum freelance writer with a taste for pets, prose and poetry. When I'm not writing my heart out, I'm playing with my three dogs, Zorra, Cloudy and Snowball.
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Comments (3)
Beautiful poem. I especially like: “ Envy may linger, but it does not decide what enters.” It’s a bit like temptation not being intrinsically bad, as long as we don’t succumb to it.
Beautifully written
This is so great! Truly, it's not envy that makes things bad but what we do about it.