A glance out the window
Revealed a fender bender
And I, I felt mirth?
Again, from inside,
Viewing the street below,
Another’s pain
Curled my lip toward my eye?
Why? What hag has hexed me,
What sorcerer stole my concern,
And left schadenfreude
In its place?
Were sights that brought me joy
Absent too long;
My eyes need to find delight
Some other way?
Numbness crushing my compassion,
Squeezing out my sympathy?
A sight that a month of Sundays past
Brought me to tears,
Now brings but numb tingling
To my limbs, my reins, my heart.
So I take up my schadenfreude,
Since I can’t convince myself
Of my fraud, that I’m happy for you
(Though your happiness I desire over mine).
Copyright © 2017 H.K. Longmore
Musings of a Kunderian Monster 