EMPATHY

I feel your pain, my sympathies go out,
My neurons mirror what your neurons suffer;
I know intuitively what you’re about
And tender tenderness, but wish you tougher.

For when you agonize, your grief is mine,
And only when you’re healed and whole can I
Be well, for so much do our souls align
That if you thrive I thrive, or die I die.

Let’s make a compact, then, that we’ll be kind
Not only to each other but ourselves,
For digging deeply, each in each, we find
We are the same, no matter where one delves.

The root of our complicit empathy
Reveals itself as shared identity.

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