Envy Poem by Maya Hanson

Envy is
not a monster.

It is a disease,
coiling its body around me,
squeezing until I'm
not myself anymore.

Envy is not green…
it is black.
Black
like the center
of a chasm I can't leap.
Black
like the space behind your eyes,
so dark you have to open them again.
Black
like my soul.

Envy
takes over the
controls of my heart,
turning all of them up
so far
I can't go back.
It slips
like a snake
out of
the side of
your soul.

It leaves you breathless
as it wanders
in the air
to find another victim.

Envy.