204800
Invisible wounds, hidden by smiles
Run deep beyond the surface
Like rivers for miles and miles.
What can you see in invisible wounds,
Can you see the pain?
Can you see the hurt?
Do you see the scars left behind?
Do you see the mental breakdown of the mind?
Can you see blood dripping from the cuts?
Of course you can’t and may never will.
One never knows what someone else
Is going or has gone through.
So much wrong goes on in society today
That some of us judge
From programmed mentalities
Instead of empathizing with shared commonalities
Having never stepped in opposite shoes,
Invisible wounds felt only by
Their victims are oblivious
To the rest of the world.
Can you sympathize or do you empathize?
Before you speak, ask yourself
If you ever had the experience of
Walking in someone else’s shoes,
Would you become the Band-Aid or the ointment?
In this instance
Kindness is the key to change.
©3/17/23 LP45
Revised 12/31/23
