i.
There are tears of sorrow,
tears that overflow the soul
with longing for what is lost
or what never was.
Bad enough, your own tears,
but worse, a friend's,
whose sadness you cannot wipe away.
ii.
There are tears of pain,
of agony your body cannot bear,
or worse,
of a deeper ache within your soul,
of a heart torn asunder,
of hopes shattered and unmendable,
of breaks that cannot be set right.
iii.
There are tears of anger,
of frustration, of helplessness,
when you could take on anything —
but not this.
When the mountain before you is too tall to climb,
when your foe is too big to fight,
when you do not understand
(even though you always understand),
the tears come to burn your heart and mind and face
and leave you numb
so you can push on anyway.
iv.
There are tears unwept,
tears held back for another's sake
(because you cannot add more pain to theirs),
tears that should be there
but aren't
and you wonder why.
Are you broken?
Or just different?
v.
There are tears of joy,
of relief, of gladness,
tears unexplained save for
an overflow of the soul.
Your heart is full of gladness,
your spirit, full of hope,
your mouth, full of laughter,
and you are so filled,
it cannot help but spill over.
