7 Deadly Sins: Pride — how does pride get in your way?

hmmmm

I’m not entirely sure
if pride alone is a word of sin to me,

for pride first and foremost
describes that swelling of joy,
of self-esteem and of celebration
of oneself, shared with others,
joined with others,

a movement of love, focussed on
saying, I am here, I am queer, and I am
proud to exist.

But I have also experienced another’s pride,
outside of this context, as ‘better than’,
a rejection. A ‘I have a doctorate and you don’t’
kind of pride, a ‘I only talk to higher ups’ kind of pride,
a ‘you’re too small for me to have interest and time’.

That pride sliced through collaboration despite fit,
and placed a hierarchy that prevented true connection;

perhaps it is a boundary, and one can view a boundary
in different ways, especially from the receiving end of one,
but in a professional work context, I also do find that
boundaries are less emotionally charged,
I am not your mother, I am not your sister,
we do not have a long complex history of love-hate,
we have a clear defined relationship that is task-oriented,
with the opportunity for some casual team-building,
with clear…