How blessed am I
to have a child
who cries at night
in anguish for the ant
he accidentally killed
earlier that day,
who groans in pain
that over a year ago,
he may have fed milk
to a stray puppy
that may have harmed it
instead of helped,
who asked me once
when watching a Tamil song-
the perennial scene
of a boy chasing and teasing a girl-
"why does he do that,
she doesn't like it".
Keep this spirit of empathy
in you my boy
the world needs it so,
to be able to see what is there,
not be desensitized
and take it as normal,
to feel the hurt as it is.
I pray you stay strong
even as you feel,
my love
