The 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 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 is a quiet malaise 

The dull sorrow of human empathy 

As one would feel for a hurting stranger 

Will step into the place caring resided 

A disconnected concern will reign 

Try as one might 

 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.

Revised September 2, 2023