to feel. . .

beware the callous

I celebrate students who feel intensely,
who still remember that a death in a book or a movie
should hurt,

what we lose when a death can be matter-of-fact
is the truth revealed when a death can be a matter of feeling, too,

much of life is a troubled path between extremes,

to feel too much can be debilitating,
to feel too little can also be debilitating,

 a callous can help us keep working
if repetition is what we need,
yet a callous comes between us and the other.

by Henry H. Walker
September 14, ’12