people love you
when they can
commiserate
with your pain.

but find
happiness?

that’s when
the reality
of who they are
comes to the forefront.

in sorrow
there is a
common denominator
a conflagration
of similar
sadness
that speaks
a universal truth;

in joy
jealousies
override
the false emotional
connection
leading to them
wondering why
the happiness
isn’t theirs
as well.

friends celebrate
your successes
and lend a shoulder
in defeat
but these falsehoods
in miserable approxination
of sympathetic
compatriots
cast dispersions
insinuate
because they cannot
simply relate
to anything
except their own
selfish selves.

there is enough
light
in the universe
that we all
can shine
without
diminishing
one another’s glow,

but they don’t
want to see that
as they live
sad existences
sowing dischord
and secretly
despising
each other
and themselves.

i choose
happiness
and they
can fuck
right off.