Empathy

Better then any essay, i think, the poem below is a very nice illustration of empathy:

At the time, I was a five-year old boy
A visit to my auntie, always a joy
My cousin was playing with cars at the back
He just had a new one, the body in black
Orange lines on the side, oh boy, what a toy

Only a few minutes later, it is hard to believe
My cousin was called and he had to leave
This left us alone, that beautiful car, and me
The temptation was great, as great as could be,
I could not resist and became a thieve 

Into my pocket, very smoothly it went,
I was delighted, extremely content
When we reached home, I told to my mom
With much pride about what I had done
And that's where contentment would end

My mother, incredibly sweet, incredibly bright
Swallowed her anger but asked in a voice, slightly tight
Please consider for a minute or two
How you would feel if someone did this to you.
Deep in my mind, I considered this plight.

It was easy to see the horrible feeling
I'd caused in my cousin by carelessly stealing
Our next visit, I was allowed to put it silently back
That car, with orange stripes on a body of black
Since then, I ‘ve quit forever the stealing

I don't think that there ever could be
A more brilliant lesson in empathy