Empathy Poetry at Paper Poetry

A Complete Lack of Empathy

With a nod to Shakespeare’s sonnet 145

Image by author with help from Bing Image Creator — source

She shook her head in disbelief
and scribbled case notes in her file
She knew me well, my pain and grief -
supporting me for quite a while
She’d tracked my stories of abuse
respected why I chose to stay
but this time she could not dismiss
her shock at what she heard me say
She looked up from her written notes
her words delivered steadfastly
“Behaviour such as that denotes
a complete lack of empathy.
When were the scans done of his head?
Pre-frontal cortex must be dead.”

© Carolyn Hastings 2025

When you ask the question, what is empathy?, be ready to get all sorts of answers. That’s because empathy is a complex psychological process that, like much of human behaviour, operates on a spectrum and is multi-faceted.

Empathy, much like most other human behaviours, is something we learn to balance and regulate.