Sunday, June 28, 2015

Empathy






source



I search for an answer.
Not to who am I, 
why am I here, where am I going?
But to a down to earth question
about why I think I'm unlike you.
As if your joy, your pain were distint, 
foreign to me.
No feeling is totally foreign.

Whatever you've felt, I've known.
Varying degrees of heaven and hell
take turns with us all.
I know the feeling of agony and bliss,
even if I haven't experienced
your specific hunger or fullness,
your love or your hate.

But FEAR keeps me from diving
too deeply into ocean of awareness 
where I may drown when I find you.
What if I plunged into your feelings of loss?
from war, the death of a child, 
homelessness, bare survival? 
Or simply how you feel when
you're content with your world?

Where would it end?  
If I had the clarity to see 
you/me/you/me/you/me/you/me
ad infinitum?
I imagine the answer ...
I'd have to love you, so much.
Then the question transforms to:
Dare I?




  


30 comments:

  1. Maybe it's only through empathy we have a purpose to live. I like the essence of your wise questions a lot.

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  2. Wow, an amazing poem, insightful, rich with imagery and thought provoking. I truly enjoyed it.

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  3. There are lots of conflicts when it comes to feelings open to test. But the stronger the feelings the lesser will be the constraints and heartache. Great lines Myrna!

    Hank

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  4. intriguing questions...every answer seems to dwell in 'love'...i like the image of 'ocean of awareness'....

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  5. This is such a heartfelt piece Myrna, no doubt empathy is one of the many things that keeps us all together..! Beautifully penned :D

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  6. it's hard to know.. people think and feel in different ways, different things meaning different things to different people.. but it's good to think about that.

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  7. I think fear does hold us back from getting involved in the lives of others. As if we did, it would be come our responsibility as well. And you know, it should be. We are all human.

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  8. to dive into you/me i think only drowns us both, one must remain aloft for empathy to tbe of some good use

    have a nice Sunday

    thanks for dropping in to read mine

    much love...

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  9. That is the question should we...I say yes as empathy is much better than judgment....wonderful work!

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  10. Werr you able to find the answer? The chaos of different feelings are very evident here. Must be because of the situation, not only for a specific individual. Thanks for sharing this, Myrna.

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  11. This goes into the heart of me....how deeply we are all affected by sadness and tragedy but how far can we empathize and dare to care ....I love the questions ~

    Grace

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  12. No matter how close, how much we love and understand someone there is always a part of us and of them that is unfathomable. This is a very moving piece and very thought provoking.

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  13. Beautifully thought out and rendered. This piece deserves to be read aloud ... slowly, and with reflection.

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  14. Profoundly insightful ponderings.

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  15. I know what you are saying, Myrna, I think. If we start asking those deep questions of either ourselves or another person we have to be ready to find out the answers; and sometimes the answers may take us in directions that may make us uncomfortable. I do think we might have to really love someone deeply to want to know all about them, and likewise to share all about us that they want to know.

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  16. WOW!!!!!!!!! This is profoundly The Ultimate Question. This is brilliant, Myrna.

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  17. your poem challenges us to look beneath the surface of who we and how we relate to others in the world. some thought provoking questions..

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  18. It can be easy to forget that people share the same experiences, even if the extremes are not shared.

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  19. In some cases yes - in some no - I think life and experience teaches us that as your poem wisely shows...

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  20. Excellent, a pure poem of humanity. Well done.

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  21. Myrna,

    A powerful mind poem of tempting transition or a journey of sharing. Philosophically challenging and perhaps lost for a definitive answer about the experience..Loved the idea of it all Myrna!
    Eileen

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  22. This gets so intriguing, pointed questions so neatly wrapped.....Beautifully penned!

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  23. Whatever you've felt, I've known.
    Varying degrees of heaven and hell
    take turns with us all.

    This is so very true.

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  24. Dare to love, it's good, it's healthy, it's your soul's goal.....

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  25. that is a good question and an honest write myrna - i think for someone who is really sensitive, emphaty it is a thin line to balance... and it takes some courage as well - i dunno how far i could go honestly

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  26. These are the questions that I also get... Most of the times, unanswered...

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