The Other Road

You and I

We walked alone

So many roads

We took alone

You chose death

And I chose life

Some part of us

Is the same inside

We fight the others

The ones who chose

The other road

I fought anger

You fought grief

We both spent many nights

Afraid to sleep

In some ways

We are twin souls

But,

Souls that took another road

One cried out into the night

And gave way to invulnerability

Who spoke in the face of agony

Who gave up their empathy

Now,

You will never know love

Because of what you've taken

Your soul hangs empty now

From the other road taken

But,

When things got raw,

When things got dark,

I spoke out

Cried out into the darkness

"Vulnerability makes me brave."

I said.

"Empathy makes me strong."

I said.

And so,

One says to the other,

On the roads taken,

"You are weaker now."

You say.

"No, you are mistaken."

Reviews

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

"Vulnerability makes me brave."
I said.
"Empathy makes me strong." It is words like these that the world needs to hear more of to remind itself of its best virtuous qualities. We ignore words such as these at our own peril.

[StormeLight]

Thank you so much :) And, you are right! It took me 20 years to understand these things about myself and about life. It's easy to believe what everyone tells you about those qualities. I fell into that trap of lies so many times by people close to me. But over time, I saw the cost, and it gave me relief inside to know why I felt so strongly not to change those things about myself.