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
