inComparable

I gutted everything just to make it through the night,
sleepless, restless,
and proud of anything I endured that was more difficult than what you had

None of this was comparable,
but it was in our very nature to line each other up
and go toe for toe
until we were frostbitten with envy

I did not like being cold,
it made me weaker than I was,
and harsher than you were,
and it made everything go faster than slow

but was not everything faster,
faster than slow?

except for that which was slower,

slower here,
slower still

---than the rest of us