Jealousy And I

Once Jealousy and I

Were travelling together

On a bicycle;

Jealousy disapproved

Of my doing well in my studies;

Wept many a tear

Whenever I merely seemed 

To outshine her.

She kept tracking 

My progress like a hawk;

Most often releasing

Her irrational fury at me

For no fault of mine

Making me wonder innocently

About what had gone wrong;

Making me mad at

Her sheer untenable irrationality.

On a hot summer afternoon

When the sun was beating like hell;

When we were resting 

And relaxing under a dense shady banyan,

She made me produce

Out of my pocket

The little sheet of paper

That bore the fruit of my year-long toil,

That told me labour 

Never goes unrewarded.

To my utter anguish and astonishment

She tore my valued prized sheet into pieces;

With her eyes brimming

She thus stripped to me stark naked

Forcing me to stagger a step or two.