Jealousy Poem by Shruti Goswami

Even when words
Don't mean a thing
You read aloud
Your favourite poem
From the book
You always bring
As I snuggled into your arms
Blindfolded by your charms
For you were all
I could see and feel.
On a usual night
Of another fall.
And you smelt of cigarettes
And old books
While I
Smelt of nostalgia
Like an old forgotten attic
With forlorn looks
And the book
Like tea leaves
Sprinkled on a moist skin.
Fragrant and soothing.
As I watched you
Engrossed, enraptured
By the poignant verses
That played on the curl
Of your lips
I grew jealous
Of the attention
That you did not
Bestow upon me.
I grew restless
Fervently wishing
To rip apart my heart
To let you know
How the blood churned
At every trough and crest
With every utterance
Of each word
That caressed your lips.
The wait seemed endless
Each verse sounding like
Million light years long
And the rhyming sounded
Like some cruel song
That mocked my helplessness.
I heaved a sigh
Of great relief
As you looked up
And kissed my cheek
Oblivious
Of all the drama
That transpired
Between those verses
And my jealousy.