Poet examines the harsh reality of jealousy

Poet Lauren Haldeman brings a sharp focus to jealousy in her poem “Jealous,” which she also illustrated in a comic. Watch Haldeman read her poem at the 2015 AWP Conference and Bookfair in Minneapolis.Video produced by Victoria Fleischer.

Jealous
I saw your book and I was jealous. I ate your eggs and I was jealous. You told me about your family—how they rented a houseboat, how they fought. I was jealous of the houseboat. I was jealous of your abilities in gift-giving when you gave me a gift. I was jealous of your sunglasses. I was jealous of your armature; your raspberries; your beach umbrella. I was jealous of your kindness when you said it was OK to be jealous. I was jealous almost all day long, through the mid-afternoon storm, as the assemblage in the yard went all citreous and cardinal. The only time I wasn’t jealous, I was napping.

Lauren Haldeman is the author of the poetry collection Calenday (Rescue Press, 2014). She received her M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and has been a finalist for the Walt Whitman award and the Colorado Prize for Poetry. Also, she’s a mom and draws comics.