Title: Beneath The Smile Poem by ashok jadhav

(The speaker stands stiffly, voice low at first, then rising with bitter intensity. They pace or clench their fists, as if holding back a storm.)
Monologue:
You… you smiled at them.
Just a smile. A word. A glance.
And suddenly, everything I thought I had—everything I was—was stolen.
I see it, don't I? The way they look at you. The way you let them look.
And I? I am invisible. Forgotten. Left behind.
I should be happy for you…
I should. But the truth?
I am burning. Burning with envy, with rage, with the sick taste of betrayal.
How could you? How could you choose them?
Was I… was I ever enough? Or was I just… a placeholder until something better came along?
Every laugh they share, every secret glance…
it cuts me deeper than any blade ever could.
I see the world through poisoned eyes, and yet… I cannot turn away.
I am trapped in this prison of jealousy,
chained to the memory of what I hoped,
and the bitter knowledge of what I lost.
And betrayal… oh, betrayal is the worst, isn't it?
Not the act itself, but the realization—
that the people you trusted,
the people you loved,
could look at another and forget you existed.
I want to scream. I want to tear it all down.
I want the world to feel this ache, this emptiness,
this relentless hunger for what cannot be mine.
But I… I am powerless.
I am left only with this green, gnawing fire,
eating me alive from the inside.
(Pauses, voice low, almost whispering, trembling with suppressed fury and pain.)
Remember me. Remember the envy, the betrayal, the one you left behind…
Because I will remember you.
Always.
(The speaker turns away, shaking, fists clenching, as if trying to hold back tears or a scream, consumed by jealousy and pain.)