Empty Empathy (Poetry)

Artwork by: Sophie Tarantino

Repressed regrets denied for years
Given new life… baptized with tears
Fear… pride… empathy dies
Hopelessly resurrected on the fourth day
The stone was rolled away… but the witnesses have left
Did the empathy ever truly transcend death?

It’s alive…
But its invisibility leaves its recipient deprived
Left to force and falsify forgiveness

It’s alive
But it’s like the fallen tree in the forest
Lacking importance
Sorry is too late in the face of abortion

-Jon Chambers