u/EmmArr29

The first broken bone,

A sign of civilisation?

A show of empathy.

A femur: hard to heal,

But healed nonetheless

In unfavourable conditions.

Whoever it was, they cared.

They waited, they carried,

They fed, they watered.

And alas, the bone healed.

In an age of abandonment,

Survival, sacrifice, strength,

They showed compassion.

We have advanced now;

Casts, x-rays, emergency care.

More wounds from more weapons,

More professions for more services,

We have more pathways,

Those which aren't strictly

To see the next sunrise.

But if empathy is a sign of civilisation,

Are we less civilised

Than our primate ancestors?

Are we less united in an age

where we have everything

Underneath our fingertips?

Where we laugh at death?

Where we laugh at victims?

Where we decide sides?

If we, now, went back,

15 thousand years ago,

And our hunter, healer, gatherer

Had taken a fall,

Broken their bone...

Would we have that compassion?

Or will we abandon to survive,

And sacrifice for strength?