What separates me from the voice that cries

For a spare bite of my food?

What separates me from the haggard hand

Trying to appeal to my inner good?

What fate is it that led me here

Instead of a crumbly home on the street?

What luck was it that made me, ME

Instead of someone else living in defeat?

Shouldn’t these be the questions I ask

On days of frustration like these?

Shouldn’t these be my ever reminders

Of countless blessings that do not cease

It’s not that I’m not grateful,

Quite the opposite, it is in fact

But my daily struggle remains empathy

How much to care, how much to pull back

What if, I gently tell myself

I use my empathy to be kind

Because nothing much separates me

From the sick, the hungry, the blind

This awareness is now deep rooted

I’m humbled; my eyes wide open

Use my heart, oh universe, to lift another’s

And my being, to lift the broken

Use me in recognizing someone’s pain

When they try their best to hide it away

Use me to read their broken smiles

Their unsaid words, their call to stay

But most of all, help me see

That we’re not separated by much at all

Help me lift at least one person each day

And help me, universe, to start right NOW