The Colours of Envy

Tall, slender,
a model of a girl
Eyes full of wonder
A smile of pearl

Elegant cheekbones
A portrait of a face
Soft and delicate
Hair always in place

With grace and intelligence
She had so many dreams
The world: her oyster
Her future gleamed

We used to be like sisters
But she was a cut above the rest
Living in her shadow
I was average at best

Myself: jealous and bitter
The ugliest shade of green
She had everything I wanted
She didn't need me

I saw her again, years later,
Four to be exact,
On a cold spring morning,
Dew resting on the bract

Alone on the street,
bag tight in her clutch,
Walked the pinnacle of beauty
I once envied so much

But she was no longer
Shining so bright
She looked fragile and broken
As her eyes shut tight

Tears on her porcelain cheeks
Like droplets of dew
The girl I longed to be
Is the shell of one I knew

As she grew closer
Something became clear
Her eyes were not only
The home to a few tears

Her alabaster skin
Under her empty eyes
Tainted with the darkest of purples
And the blues of night skies

The next I heard of her
She was no more
She took her last breath
Limp on the floor

The man she was safe with
Her one true love
Took her life from her
With every push and every shove

My shoulders ache
From the guilt they bear
She faced it alone
When I should have been there