Poem On Tears

Tears! tears! tears!
I know not what they mean,
Why the baby cries
or at her marriage-bell
The bride weeps

Perhaps we let it enter foolishly,

They well within their rims,

Strange how tears
Can wander in and out at will,

till they begin to over flow

Those drops from out the sea that rolls

Within the hearts forevermore,
 Without a depth -- without a shore.

Drop by drop they reflect,
the words that cannot flow
from a heart,

They must be overflowing,
forming a river wide and deep
and I’m sure before my life ends
I’ll have more of them to weep.

Sometimes I just cry,
when lost for words to say

Sometimes I just cry,
when I should be laughing

When my tears mix with laughter,
a joyful story they do tell
for when they mingle together . . .
with my soul ~ all is well!

But ah! the tears that are not wept,
The tears that never outward fall;
The tears that grief for years has kept
 Within us -- they are best of all;
The tears our eyes shall never know,
Are dearer than the tears that flow.