i haven't

some people say
"you can't write about what you don't know",
i used to believe that

but i've created many lives
in many ways
about things
i did not experience 

i tell tales
of love
and destruction,
of relationships i never had
of lovers i never loved
of words that haven't been spoken

people tell me their stories
and in my mind
i can't help
to walk a thousand miles
in their shoes

i've started to believe,
that some feelings
are universal

can you idealize
pain
in attempt to understand it?

can you idealize 
love
in attempt to understand it?

or haven't i 
understood
anything?