i regret each day that i have been condemned to feel deeply
it feels a burden, this weight that i never agreed to carry
i find within it equal parts obligation and duty
for should i truly remorse that i was given the privilege to take in the world this way?
to some, it may never register
but to feel deeply is to feel it all
the sorrow of others you have never known
the jubilation and pride of perfect strangers
the admiration for efforts, big and small
the devastation of disdain for life, in all its form
and, as i have said many times in recent years, the torture of hope
to feel deeply is often confused, a battle between giving up in despair, and trudging along begrudgingly
to feel deeply is to find your soul perpetually exhausted
when i see decency fail, it is too hard to bear
and when i meet one of my own, one who feels deeply,
it is as though there is nothing left to discuss
because we know what it means to feel
and we’ve spent most of our time pretending not to
