By George

20/09/2020 -  Poem a Day Compilation



“By George,” she said

And I waited for the inevitable

I’ve got it, or done it,

Or whatever the stupid phrase is.



She was smart and I hated her for it.

And to make it even worse,

She was really humble about it,

Didn’t shove it in your face every moment.



I didn’t want her to fail but sometimes,

Against every rational fibre of my being,

I wished she wasn’t quite so successful

And I was a little more of that.



I know it’s a pathetic way to be.

Jealous of someone for being themselves.

If she’d been pompous or snobby

I could almost forgive myself.



Maybe it was because she wasn’t just smart,

She was the whole package:

Brains, beauty, wit, compassion.

How could I possibly compete?



The way she looked at me,

As if I were the only man in the room

Even if there were a hundred others

All her equal and above me.



Her half-asleep smile in the middle of the night

When I’d pull the blanket over her

As she dozed on the couch

Trying to finish just one more page.



Her joy when I got the promotion at work

Because she knew how hard I’d worked for it

And she was genuinely proud of me

Even if it was nothing compared to her.



All the insecurities were mine and mine alone,

Wrestling for control when she shone –

So brilliantly and gloriously bright –

And it took all I had not to let it show.



“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

And all that animosity melted away.

Because she was smarter than me.

And she loved me anyway.