Manifest Zer0
MANIFEST ZER0
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“With Realizations of Empathy” by Jasmin Ivanković
February 17, 2024
poetry

On empathy,
Jasmin Ivankovic


Love
Poems,
For I’ll forever know what I’ve known,
But not how I’ve seen.
I’ll recall most things,
but not always
What they mean.

With realizations of empathy.

You’ll know I’m kind and gentle.
A man you could maybe need.
You’re surely what your family wanted,
You even met their needs.

I’m just as I’ve always wanted.

‘To be’ is not what ‘it used to be’.

But ‘to think’ or ‘not to think’
in reality comes first,
When you’re me.
It’s kindness to my senses,
The way you seem.
When nothing could take it back
I saw a sign from you
and what you feel.

With realizations of empathy.

I’ll open with
Something you’ve never rehersed.
You’ll tell me what it means…
To start over, again.
I’ll know it meant
Something else
to your sentimentality.
And sometimes,
It’s easy to forget how to be,
So I’ll write reminders in my head.
I know you’ll doubt
How much such reminders matter
For what they meant – but, to me,
It’s besides the point.
I’ll take the love I can get.

With realizations of empathy;

I’ll forever know
The great effort my hands knew,
As they often speak,
Like my body,
Before a word uttered.
‘I’m in love with you,’ you muttered,

With realizations of empathy.