I Am That, Too
by Simone Russell
Deliver me
from negotiating my empathy,
fearing it will be picked apart like threads unraveling.
My empathy is not to be exploited,
but to be felt—
like a wave, sweeping you off your feet,
fleeting, sudden.
Deliver me
from surrendering my anger,
fearing it will consume me,
define me only as fire—
as if I cannot burn and bloom,
as if I am fixed,
unchanging,
nothing more
than the rage I carry.
Keep me
from rejecting my entirety,
and help me accept
that in the waves of empathy
and the fire of anger,
I am whole—
in mind, body, and spirit.
My wholeness is enough,
for I am that, too.