We need to normalise
Crying in public.
It’s something very normal,
Very kind – a release.
And not everyone cries
Because they’re sad.
My favourite tears
Are those I cry when
I think of you –
They’re such loving, joyful tears.
They start in my chest
Where my heart is,
Where you are, always.
A knot in my neck at first
And then BOOM.
Pour out, love!
Pour out, joy!
Because it’s
Something very normal
To love in public.
I’m thirty three
And I’m afraid
Of doing things
Still.
I’m afraid
It will hurt,
It will fall apart,
It will not last.
And then more
And more
I seek the courage
To do more today
Than I did yesterday.
To do –
To be.
And thus,
My darkest fear,
My greatest pain,
You’re in the growing,
Not in the doing.
It’s something we carry in our hearts
And sometimes share with the world.
It’s our antidote to ignorance
And our calling march in summer.
It’s something we share with our friends
When we dance the nights away.
It’s every drop in our teary eyes
When we catch a glimpse of it in others.
It’s something we build everyday
And fight to keep alive and beaming.
It’s a soft bending, stubborn hope
That things will eventually get better.
It’s something in the strut of our heels
And the glitter that covers our wounds.
It’s the glue of our community
And the sweet embrace of our kin.
It’s something rooted in every broken heart
And it’s somewhere where we all belong.
Our glory anthem. Our war and peace.
Our Pride.
