Advice From A Teardrop 

You think you’re tough

holding in those tears? 

I thought so too. You think 

you’re wise beyond your years?

People told me that too.

You think you’re weak

if you cry so you hold them in

eventually you explode with

something uglier than sorrow.

Mean and hateful words will leave you

alone, resentful and full of fear.

Oh my dear, how do you release your pain?

A tear dripping down your cheek is how

you show love. That’s how you grow tough-

honing in the ability to let go

again and again and again. 

---

This poem is written in conversation with Kim Stafford’s poem “Advice From A Raindrop,” which can be read here.