The Scales of Comparison

When the night deepens in this lonely room,
A silent sigh escapes the library's gloom.
It’s never just about the grades we bear,
But the daily shattering of hopes we share.
"Look how well the neighbor's child has done,
See the golden race that they have won."
Does our honest labor and the sleepless night,
Hold no value in our own home's light?
Does our silent struggle go completely unseen,
Lost in the shadow of where we’ve been?
You pour every luxury, you grant every plea,
You buy every comfort that our eyes can see.
But this endless arrow of comparison you dart,
Pierces right through a child’s tender heart.
When the verdict is passed by the ones we hold dear,
And our little joys are weighed down by fear,
Even the warmth of a family starts to fade,
In the deep, cold emptiness that you have made.
Yet the courage within us refuses to die,
Every child knows the strength to reach the sky.
These numbers and scales will never confine,
How high and how vast our wings will shine.