Recessive Empathy

An ode -

to my great grandparents,

Who experienced the world through visual feelings;

Raw with emotions

not tainted by spoken vibrations.

Traits are inherited

Malleable through experience,

Though my own in the world be entirely different

I inherited this gift, an ability,

To feel and to feel deeply.

Understanding

Energy goes before assumption

In a crowd, before a single word is spoken;

Sensing sadness behind beautiful smiles

Buried intentions deep within.

Recessive genes evolve

Trickling through the veins of my parents

As hypersensitive and overstimulated;

Deciphering a gift that carries

Generational wisdom and newfound lessons.

An ode -

To my great grandparents,

Who ascended long before I knew my name

Yet still teach me ancient ways

While giving space to make my own mistakes.

They taught me

To hear with my heart and see beyond my eyes,

What I had to learn on my own

Was to breakdown the barriers of my mind

In order to use this gift they left behind.

For with great sensitivity

Comes the urge to hide

Behind walls built so high; even I could not climb

Keeping the emotions

From penetrating, or escaping.

A quarter through life

Only now do I see,

This gift goes far beyond my own little family,

One meant to be shared among strangers and friends

For a soft heart is rare in a world hardened by fear.

An ode-

To my great grandparents and all whose paths I’ve crossed,

I am grateful for this sixth sense

To feel and to feel deeply in a world muddled by noise;

Who knew their deafness would echo so loudly.