ENVY

It enters like an old friend
Too familiar to knock
Slipping in quietly
When joy is about to speak.

It frowns at others’ laughter
Shudders at joined hands
Sours even the sweetest moments
Like a worm in ripe fruit.

A plague, it spreads
Changing faces and shifting names
Hard to name and harder to cure
It hides behind our smiles.

It festers and grows into hate
A hollow in the heart we feed
Not with love but with longing
To be anything but ourselves.

Envy is the devil in disguise
Polite and persuasive
The root of quiet wars
And loud silences in the soul.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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