Empathy
Something a little different today. A slam poem that came to me late last night.
I was thinking the other night
About how the people I see
Are just mirages of me.
I was thinking about how
When I go out, “hit the town,”
There always seems to be something weighing me down.
You see, I think, even in a room full of people,
Even in this strange club with the flashing lights
And the exotic rug,
We’re all just children in need of a hug.
But we tend to push when we mean to pull,
Tend to alienate and subjugate,
When we mean to ameliorate.
But do we both need to bleed
For my pain to be real?
Do we both need to scream
For someone to answer?
I find it hard to separate myself
From the thoughts in my brain.
It’s amazing how pain
Can act as a membrane.
Yet somehow I know
That first it must rain
And then comes the sun.
Then I know I don’t have to run.
See, God created the heavens and the earth from blackness,
From stark dust and black matter
To growing trees and glass that shatters.
But glass ain’t the only thing that can shatter, no
You can break a soul, I would know
That’s why we have Black Lives Matter.
So how long will it take
Before we can come together?
Before we can sit across,
No judgement in our eyes,
And speak about the things that matter.
About single mothers and gay lovers,
Tired people of color,
About all rights for all people?
What I ask for is not impossible, you see
Quite probable, actually
So long as we learn to develop a little
Empathy.
