tracing our steps on concrete

dear empathy,
I lost you like a cause

when birds erupted
from my vocal cords
singing about the hope
I once held for the future

warbled about
how I formed affectations
between my fingertips
and mistook them
for affection,

and the waves of effects
washed over me like deliverance

but now, you stare at me
bewildered and doe-eyed
because I am not here
to emancipate my misdeeds

and instead,
I paint my face
with the livid lucidity
God blessed me with
the first time
dawn broke on my eyelids

and I have no sincerity
left to offer you