My Envy

made me ugly
made me sad

made me drizzly
so I called her

over and over
though it was I

who was over
hung out to dry

rain-pocked
like the pebbles

I sat on
(my hard-earned prize)

*
Put the not getting
into a tightly-swaddled bundle

in a pink and lemon-yellow shawl
take the loss and tie it

to the tail of a barn swallow
make a dirty yellow sock

your diploma
the high-tops suspended

from telephone wire your
well-deserved first prize