SHRAPNEL

 

tears can become brittle when we have held them for too long

and often we hold them not because we want to but

because there is nothing else to do

 

tears are meant for shedding and anointing and washing and offering

 

tears are not meant for holding

and when they are held too long

they starve and become dehydrated

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tears not released become disfigured and strange and contorted and misshapen

 

these tears will twist and bend and confuse 

the marrow of our bones

and the structure of cells

our feelings

our thoughts 

 

they become prickly and sharp and heavy and upon accumulation unbearable

 

and sometimes

at long long - long long last

a bunch of them will crack off

and wrench and tremor and shake to the surface

 

and without warning break and burst straight out of you

 

and you may find them like shrapnel

making holes in the walls of your house

or your spouse or your children

 

or sometimes in the middle of the night 

when you are not sleeping

you may feel the dry crackly jolt of them 

groping out from the middle of your being 

 

and the only thing to do now is to let them

receive them

thank them

bless them on their way

and then

 

let them go

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© patty forsberg