My Tears Flow Like a River Wild

Poem for The Carer Mentor Collaboration 'Caring About Crying'

Thank you for joining me in The Pause Place. Holding space for you in grief, feelings of loss, and your journey toward hope.

For more on my story, read The Pause Place.

My Tears Flow Like a River Wild

Do my tears make you squirm

because as a small child you learned

that tears make you weak. 

So when you try to speak

to express and release

you were told that crying broke the peace.

That law of the home

said crying would keep you alone;

that there’s no community in tears

only revulsion and fear.

I had learned to hold tears back.

To stuff down my feelings and retract

the tears that would have cleansed

and changed the lens

through how I saw grief

were stuck with no relief. 

It wasn’t until the pain was so huge

that the tears rushed in a deluge

that kept coming and flowing

releasing to the point of knowing.

That THEY were so wrong. 

My tears are my song

of how much pain I felt

over the grief I’d been dealt.

From the child I lost

To the heartbreak it cost.

My tears are my way to show

what my heart and soul need others to know.

When my tears flow like a river wild,

they show the love of a mother for her child.

(This is dedicated to anyone who has lost a child.)

Thank you to Victoria at Carer Mentor and the other incredible collaborators who have shed light on the need for tears in their offering of ‘Caring About Crying.’