Meditation on Mutuality

Without empathy
There can be no understanding

Without understanding
There can be no love

If you desire empathy
Offer it

If you seek to be understood
Try to understand

But realize it can happen
That you do not receive
Empathy or understanding
In return

Do not yearn for those
Who only crave empathy
And understanding
For themselves

Empathy when not mutual
Can prove harmful
In excess

So too does understanding
Injure the soul
Who understands but is not seen

The one who cries, "How well you know me!"
But does not ask, "How well, then, do I know you?"

Shall never hold true
To the ideal he demands of others

You may have many lovers
Only do not linger with those
Who steal

Generosity is not possible
Without justice

Especially in affairs
of the heart

Trust may only start
When mutuality
Has been assured

And without trust
Love will never flourish