Love Poem: Less Than
Heidi Shipka Avatar
Written by: Heidi Shipka

Less Than

Less Than

She was living in a puddle of poor decisions,
Soiled in messy outcomes

Her downtrodden steps shuffling path of humiliation, 
embarrassment, 
self-loathing.

For a long time, I joined her
there,
Under her blanket of shame
(As if for lunch, at a cafe)

I even took it upon my arrogant self to define her existence:
‘Less than’

less than~
someone who had made better choices, 
worked harder ... or differently,

less than~
someone who planned more thoroughly, 
spent more frugally ...
sacrificed more.

I made myself comfortable in that place,
settled in for the long haul, wallowing in her pity with her.

Playing the part of gravity,
I held her there
Making her believe what I did...

That she was, indeed, ‘less than’

To be continued...