Obituary of Caring

Obituary of Caring

When caring dies
It will not be from a gaping wound
It will not be from a sudden gushing
It will not be a traumatic event
It will happen
From one small cut
Of a thousand thousand small cuts
The bleeding will be only slight
But one of those drops
Will carry the last of caring
That drop
Will be indistinguishable
From the rest of the blood
Leaving a drop at a time
It will pass mostly unnoticed
Until the next time caring is needed
And there is none to be found
The last of caring has gone
In its place a quiet malaise
The dull sorrow of human empathy
As one would feel for a hurting stranger
A disconnected concern
Try as one might the concern will not attach
It will not grow into caring
It will stand outside the heart
Its burden if any will be carried in the mind
Memory will provide a proper response
A dead act for a dead emotion
Empathy becomes apathy
Caring becomes concern
Sorrow becomes sadness
A shoulder becomes a place for tears
Rather than a place to share a burden
Without a place to reside
The reason is left behind
The pain leaves the mind
Nearly as soon as we walk away
There is no tether
There is no bond
Some day before today
Caring died

Ron Simpson, Jr.
March 1, 2009