While trying to help those who have gone down the wrong path,
We must be sure to fuel the light they carry within.
And not to sip from the darkness that burdens them.
If you can imagine,
Then you will see.
If you can listen,
Then you will know.
If you can understand,
Then beware!
For while we seek the origins of fear,
Dark things loom ever closer.
Slithering Serpent
Tasting the frigid night air
While the Owl watches

He stands in the gloom of shadow
Forced by need
Awaiting his hapless victim
Driven by desperation
He pops a pill to stifle his conscience
And waits.
She watches him with cold patience
Stalking from a darkness beyond the shadows
Her mind, an abyss of revenge
She can almost feel,
The sweet searing pain
Of slicing a seventh notch into her arm,
Each one, a murder!
He steels himself
As light footsteps stagger around the corner
A fragile damsel, he hopes
And smiles at the thought
Of taking more than just possessions…
She crouches
Excitement soaks through her.
Murder has become an addiction
A wickedness to assuage her trauma
And she smiles at the thought
Of seeing the light leave his hungry eyes.
He has sought reprieve in the darkness
And evil has taken control
But goodness itches from within
And he fights it, each waking moment
With drugs to repress remorse.
She wields a serial evil
Or rather, it wields her
But goodness is in there somewhere
For she preys upon those who prey,
And leaves the innocent be
But death has strangled her conscience
And soon she will kill without reason
So If you can imagine
Then see the wages of sin
If you can listen
Then heed the darkness within
If you can understand
Then be careful as you empathize
For whilst we strive to conquer evil
The darkness looms ever closer!

© judeitakali
I went a little deep with this, for empathy is depth,
And therein, lies the risk.
I hope I can get some of your feedback, and opinions, and perspectives.
Stay safe everyone,
Stay loving.
So true
So true
So true Jude…
Darkness never gives up…
Always trying to entangle and entice maximum
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Yeah, it’s very hard to unstick it, when it gets stuck.
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What can I say….so true ya Jude 🙃😅🥴😎😇🙏🏼🤩
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I somehow understand the message in all those emojis,😃
Thanks Ruelha
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Hahahhahahahahaha….i am sooooo glad you did…you’re a smart man Jude😀
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“If you can understand
Then be careful as you empathize
For whilst we strive to conquer evil
The darkness looms ever closer!”
Very much true. You’ve captured depths & risks of empathy beautifully, Jude. Well done! 🙂
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Thank you so much for the appreciation Kitty❤️
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You are welcome, Jude. I’ve mailed the cinquains. 🙂
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Ahh this one is deep and heavy 😶😶😶
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I’m glad you feel it Vani. It’s something I thought about last night during my writing meditation
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wow, well written friend. it was like peeing inside the dark mind of a vengeful fiend.
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Ha! sorry, not peeing, peering! although… hmm… that could be an interesting twist! …
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Haha, the chemical reaction will be quite foul, I can tell you that.
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Thank you so much for appreciating.
Yeah, I do write dark stuff, every now and then.
But I travel with light
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Jude, I think it is a VERY real danger. You described it so well in your poem.
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Thank you so much Jade for appreciating it.
We need to have strong foundations as wrîters, and psychiatrists and all those things that involve deep empathy
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You’re very welcome.
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This poem gets better with every reread. It’s always important to understand the importance mental differences between sympathy and empathy for our sanity’s sake.
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Thank you so much Sammi. It is extremely important. I think we need a very strong centre as well.
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Wow! Beautiful as always. So deep and insightful! A dark one, but loved it nonetheless!
Also, I was wondering how you format your poems? I have lots of issues with formatting on WordPress 😂😂!
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Hi Tanvi. Thank you so much ❤️
My formatting trick is to use the block editor, write in the blocks
And to edit each block on it’s own in the classic editor (especially poetry for the right spacing).
So write the first line in a block, then switch to classic editor, write the rest of the paragraph, and switch back to block, then save.
Also, it’s easier on the mobile/tab app, so you can type it out on the laptop, save it in the drafts, then edit on the portable devices.
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Thank you so much! I’ve struggled with poetry formatting for a while. But I’ll try this out and let you know how this goes. 🙂🤍✨🙌
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Especially with addicts, it’s easy to get dragged down into their abyss. You can only help so much if they are not willing to do their own work to recover. (K)
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Yes indeed K.
I really think that in some cases, if you focus on fuelling the light, it gives a person strength to fight their own darkness.
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I agree, it can work sometimes. But sometimes you have to save yourself from being pulled in.
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You have reminded me of some of the early Crime Shows I used to watch that had the police hunting the hunters. Some of whom had very little human consciousness left. Always believing that what they were doing was for some just cause – especially in their own mind.
One show was particularly troubling because the ‘villain’ convinced the jury that he was innocent, but at least one man of the law thought he was not… and took matters into his own hands to stop future killings of true innocents. Morality and justice are not always black and white.
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I couldn’t agree more,
So much gray area in between.
Thank you so much Jules,
You really got me on this post and what I was putting forward.
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This is so deep, Jude. I have already read it thrice 👏👏👏
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I’m humbled Ramya, thank you so much 🙏🏾
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Jude, a very insightful write. Being empathetic is not easy always.
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Thank you Punam. It does have its challenges.
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You are welcome.
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I loved this one! I think addictions are a serious problem that keep getting worse if left untreated. I also think some things get worse the more we try to run from them.
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I trust your opinion on these. You have a good grip on mental health.
We will discuss these sometime soon when we I get past this messenger.
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