Sunday, January 1, 2023

You said

You said something that moved me
and in spite of myself
a few small tears
(furtive but unmissable)
traced paths down my cheeks

These were
judiciously-sized tears
reasonable
fully appropriate in scale
to the particular moment

Nothing to be ashamed of
I always tell myself
though I’d hoped you hadn’t seen them

It happens
I tell myself
nonchalantly wiping my face with my hands
it’s normal

Look: we’re made of water
sometimes we need to rebalance ourselves
even the Hoover Dam has a spillway

I shed a few tears
to recalibrate myself
to avoid overflow
to ward off structural damage
to keep myself from drowning

You said

You said something that moved me and in spite of myself a few small tears (furtive but unmissable) traced paths down my cheeks These were ju...