Two poets of stature contextualize the rush of empathy that attended the outbreak of the pandemic, global solidarity in response to racial injustices in the US, and how poetry and language can help make this shared experience of calamity a truly transformative moment. Otosirieze Obi-Young engages National Book Award-winning prize poet, Terrance Hayes, and Nii Ayikwei Parkes, in a meditation on empathy and the creative process in and out of isolation.