Week 22: Empathy

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Empathy

Don’t wrap me
in your pity
or stifle me
with sympathy
the lion’s roar
may well
seem silenced
but it’s alive
within my core

Don’t smother me
with platitudes
or shroud me
in condescension
sympathy will only
invoke my rage
my wounds
will scream
with anger

Tread water
with me in the inky
ocean of emotion
don’t throw the
rope of
patronising promises
to pull me in to safety
trust me enough
to float next to me
in these deep
uncomfortable waters
don’t seek to soothe
your own discomfort

Only then might we
be washed up
spent
ready for restoration
on the beach of
understanding

© Tanya Southey
#52words52weeks