there is nothing samaritan here
if the stranger stays strange
until you paste a face on her
if you have to see
your mother bruised
your sister raped
your daughter cut
your son gay
your wife hungry
to care,
it’s not empathy
but ownership
a possessive attributive adjective–
mine versus yours
another lesson in tribal thinking
or primate hostility for
anyone other than us
get ready to pound that chest
and hiss disagreement, but
this is no change of heart
just an arbitrary shift of rules
that were fine for everyone else’s family
but yours
Susan Daniels Poetry 
yes! love this!
Oh, thank you!
A very powerful poem that deserves a little more than clicking a Like button. Not empathy, but ownership … Do we only care if it is “mine” not “yours”?
Purple–I think some of us do care, and act, but most of us do not. Shame on us.
This reverberates inside me this morning. I’ve erased the beginnings of several triggered and related rants here. I’ll leave it that you did a good job with this one, Susan. Thanks for both thinking and writing. You wear them well. Alice
Alice, thank you. This has been stewing for a while, and I’m not sure I’m done with this subject.
Very nicely done. The tribal mentality is fiercely disturbing. Your last two lines are especially apt.
Thank you, Ms. Shrinks. This has been bugging me for a while.
same.
There is a saying here that translates roughly as ‘if it is hanging on your friend, then it is hanging on a tree.’ To wit, once an issue does not have a direct impact on you, you are dispassionate about it. Let it relate to a blood relation or a loved one then, passion takes on a different meaning.
there is nothing samaritan here
if the stranger stays strange
until you paste a face on her.
Well done, Susan, Voice of the Voiceless 🙂
Celestine, thanks, friend. I wonder if we can move past this?
You punch like a prizefighter.
Thank you Paul, I try. Usually it is a feint, but sometimes I hit 😉
Ah yes. “Them” and “us”… 😉
I am so sick of this.
BAM!!! NO MORE LIKE DOUBLE BAM!!!!!
🙂 thanks sis! Missed you!
Exactly. I really don’t know quite what else to say. You have it right. 🙂
Thanks, Jeremy. This has been bugging me for a while now.
What you said.
Thanks, Nelle.
You said it, dear poet– excellent choice of words…
Oh, thank you, Lindy.