Listen To The Sirens Poem by Jim Yerman

When we hear the siren and see an ambulance we pull over and for a silent moment…we pray…for the people inside that ambiance….until the siren fades away.

Chances are we don't know the person hurt or the people helping on that particular day…and our world is only interrupted for a moment…until the siren fades away.

In that moment we wonder what might have happened to throw their world into disarray…but our mind quickly wanders to other things…once the siren fades away.

Of course, this is human nature…our concern is momentary…we stop and say a prayer…then expect the people who know and love them take up our concern from there.

But whenever I hear a siren now…as I look out on the world today, ., .,
I wonder if our feelings of compassion and empathy…like the sirens…are slowly fading away.

Could it be in a world that is so divided where we can't agree on basic things we know…in the midst of all our fighting….that our empathy and compassion are the first signs civility to go?

And when our compassion and empathy die…we reach a point..in fact we're standing on its precipice now…I fear
Where our eyes no longer see the truth…and our ears no longer hear.

A point where we're thinking only of ourselves…while all others we ignore? A point where the sirens around us are blaring…but we can't hear them anymore

I'm afraid if we can't bring compassion and empathy back into our lives…
if we cannot find a way…
if we don't listen to the sirens now…
it will be us who fade away.