Empathy

he had always heard it was a weakness
to put yourself in someone else’s shoes
to see the world through different eyes and feel
and understand the world the way they do

you’d think he was a rich man, unable
to imagine the poor and downtrodden
but the truth be told, he was poor himself
saw as virtue his world never broadened

so, he never read a book, or story
unvetted by his tribe’s algorithm
entertained a song, shook a stranger’s hand
not perspective, he’d surrendered freedom

selfishness, excuse, and narcissism
were the source of his lack of empathy
and the fact he could blame everyone else
see his situation as destiny