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Empath

written by: Josie Dee

@Josi3_dee

You’re too sensitive they said

As the words hurt and cut deep

You're too sensitive they said

As the echoes haunted my sleep

Too sensitive, man up, ignore it

Were the phrases to spur me on

But I grew to realise, almost too late

That their negative sensitive was wrong

So the words cut deep and the looks sliced through

But my being too sensitive makes each feeling new

A step into a familiar room

Like a leap into the unknown

Oppressive, warm or a hostile place

Even a strange one can feel home

Sensitive to atmosphere

And how others relate

Not comfortable in my own skin

It can turn to self hate

But it’s just the volume, the noise of the world

And a series of events that simultaneously unfurl

Don’t be silly they said

When I thought I felt their pain

Through pictures, film, or life

My nerves would spike, hurting in vain

An empathy too strong

So acutely aware

Of everything around me

Even sensitive to air

But this awareness and feeling that can cut like a knife

Is sometimes the only reason that I feel I’m alive

So I may be too sensitive

I may feel others fears

I may never be happy

When I anticipate your tears

It can be overwhelming

It can be absent for days

But I’ve learnt it’s not abnormal

No matter what some will say

Being caught in a cycle of elation, absence and pain

I may be too sensitive but that’s my trait to claim

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

A poem about acute empathy and sensitivity to others and the atmospheres/rooms you walk into