Forgive

I feel so dull, so dead and dying,
So finally, utterly cold.
I see your pain, your hurt and your feelings;
I watch your misery unfold.

I know I should feel some slight remorse
For the pain that burns in your eyes.
Yet somehow I feel nothing within me,
Despite the tears that you cry.

Are you surprised that I close my lips?
That I avert my gaze from your face?
I have nothing to give you, nothing to say
That would seem anything but out of place.

So what? I can mouth the platitudes now;
The hundred and one tiny words
That mean nothing - all I can do is repeat
The order in which they were heard.

Don't come to me looking for advice
Or a person to give you devotion.
All I can do is sit and receive -
Not relating to your emotion.

I wish that all this were not the case -
That I could feel what you feel.
It saddens me to know that my 'help'
Only makes wounds harder to heal.

And so I hereby tender apologies
For all of the aid I may give.
Ignore me, for only one thing can I say -
All you must do is forgive.