Someone is building a shelf.

Because they do not know the length,

They pick me up,

My intervals assist them.

Then they drop me on the ground,

My accuracy was unacceptable.

If my numbers have no value,

Then neither do I.

They pick my brother up,

He is much more precise,

Top of the line,

Higher quality,

Sharper measurements,

Greater accuracy,

Better ruler. 

I am my own ruler,

For I constantly measure myself on

How tall I am,

How high my grades are,

How I compare to my brother. 

He never needed to measure himself,

Because he was certain he was enough.

He would rather measure his surroundings with his ruler,

For his prestigious engineering class.

If I returned to my ruler residence,

And told my Ppotractor parents

About an academic achievement of mine,

They would probably inform me,

That the ruler of the house,

My brother, 

Won a Nobel Peace Prize,

For his monumental measurements.

My ruler is incapable of such a feat

It can not measure 

How much time I need to judge the distance

Before I crack  and dent,

How far I need to go,

Before you must use a yard stick instead,

Because I need to hold on to my happiness.

Not a single soul knows

How much I can use the ruler before it snaps.

My ruler’s units are expectations.

Constantly calculating conversions

From its own to others.

Ruler disclaimer,

Not all conversions are accurate,

Please don’t be outraged if they come short…

My ruler is too strict,

It lacks faith in its measurements,

And Sacrifices its Structure for Scholastic Success,  

One day it will fall apart.

My ruler yearns for flexibility,

Then bends won't break it.

Everyone has a ruler,

Some measure themselves,

Some measure others,

But mine does both,

Constantly measuring me 

Beside my older brother.

My ruler paves a path of perpetual perfectionism,

Marking the increments of achievements that are never enough,

It is like a serpent,

Constricting me,

Hissing fears and insecurities.

After making a decision,

With utmost precision,

I’ll doubt it with revision,

Then I hit the ground with brutal collision,

Forcing the ruler to make measurements

Between its own hash marks,

Pushing itself to its breaking point.

I will only stop being stressed,

If I allow my ruler to rest.