Empathy

What would I feel,

The question asked

Too late or never.

Watch my love,

Burnt alive,

Char still fresh

Screams still ring.

Watch sons

Killing sons,

For lord

Or lady

Or idea,

Yet never as much

As souls of sons.

What would I feel

Were I forced

Bear witness

A daughter raped

And again

Set upon by savage men

Who knew

Better than most

The worthlessness of flesh.

What would I feel

To feed one child

The flesh of brother,

To be so afraid

Of losing another.

When night swallows,

When light can’t win,

What becomes

Of what’s within.

In shadowlands

I walk and ponder

Why we walk alone.