Empty Souls

Pour myself open,

When will it be enough?

Anguish and heartache,

Please, no more sips from this cup.

Death and suffering surround me,

I daily hear their cries.

I want so badly to help them,

But ill-equipped am I.

I thirst for justice and compassion

Relieve their misery, ease their pain,

But there are too few answers,

And so my efforts are often in vain.

I hunger for a future,

Where those around me are whole,

Where despair and hopelessness

Lose their bite or are no more.

But I face an uncertain future

Mere survival at best.

Should I then live for only me

And forget about all the rest?

This broken vessel, dry and empty,

longs to be full once again.

I need refreshing, a quenching,

For my thirst to reach its end.

I hear their desperate stories,

Cannot ignore their pleas,

But I, too, am tired,

For I, too, live with this disease.

You all who are out there,

Healthy, safe, and whole,

You who taste freedom,

On whom illness takes no toll,

Do you see our suffering?

Does it ever touch your empty souls?

Will you not open your hearts

And offer up your overflowing bowls?

We are starving for peace and healing,

For relief from all this pain,

And we would give almost anything

To savor one more “normal” day.

So I ask for your mercy,

Your understanding, your grace.

Help us satiate our hunger,

Please, don’t look the other way.

I’ve tried my best

And have given my all.

In the end, will it matter –

Or on deaf ears will it fall?