Society’s kindness has gone markedly down as we tend to polarize and communicate online via social media more. It’s sort of sparking a lot of interest, particularly in these times of social isolation, in getting folks to begin dialoging more in real time, face to face.
Tribalisms of Empathy by Michael Doyle Under the umbrella of empathy Are provided nuances of connection It's a challenge to sympathy But catching that contagion's direction Empathetic concerns burn into differences A million points of view in inference Sharing the realm of mixed feelings Wobbled as they are in fluid reality Pushing forward in acts of kindness In the pain of a world full of blindness Started into startled inhibition By the selfishness of strident ambition Looking out for oneself is part of life's brutality When really what's needed is community We are, after all, all in this together Knowing this and acting on it makes life better As I was walking on the edge of a local marsh I was thinking on how enforced isolation is harsh And if that harshness is simple physiology Or, do the mirrored feelings go beyond biology Wearing the genes of our heredity I slip down the gradient of empathy Watching as society diminishes in communication There is a just fear in my heart for our nation Meanness is on the rise; kindness is in decline Polarized as a nation in ways we should not refine Trust gets harder and life is grown impersonal As angry voices find their disconnecting control In this prevalence of anonymity Our world grows colder in its loss of empathy Straight text; no voice, leads to dehumanization Breaking down further our morass of communication Clues missed that make up the parts us so human Once removed, lend boldness as it sadly can But not to the best or even slightly better As we forget that we're in this together (c) May 4, 2020 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
