Cost of Comparison

Crying in rooms so bare,
Inscribed in me since childhood that life was never fair,
Instructed to hustle, earn, win,
Never taught to love within.

I carry deep wounds inside.
Exploring the world with borrowed dreams,
Designer clothes, a car, jewelry so bright,
But sleep avoids me every night.

Watching the world with jealous eyes,
Comparison chaining me, tight and cold.
Feeling inferior, drowning in sighs.
Scaling the love stairs only for blank stares.

A comrade succeeds, jealousy boils deep inside,
Feelings of failure metastasize every day.
Cold and sly voices whisper,
“You’ll never make it—why even try?”

In this race am laced up,
No money can heal a grazed heart.
If I want to heal, I have to accept the truth.
That self-love was missing in my youth.