In Tears
A poem on the expression of emotion
I have always been tender-hearted,
I have cried at some point
In every Disney movie I have ever seen
But lately,
Whether due to my neurodivergence,
My advanced age,
My personality,
My life experience,
Or some combination,
I find I easily fall into tears more often
I still cry at Disney movies,
Even ones I’ve seen before,
But now I cry with every small drama
I see on TV
I cry at sad books,
I had a book about a sheepdog once,
That became very sad towards the end,
I had to go into the backyard
Determined to finish it
Through gales of tears
And loud sobbing
Also now,
I cry at moments of great beauty,
I’ve been known to tear up
At sunsets,
And babies
And reunions of long-lost siblings,
And great poetry,
And kindness to animals,
And small children,
And acts of extraordinary charity,
Compassion and empathy,
And distant beautiful landscapes
That I will never see
I cry at the joy and innocence of my granddaughters
It might be that now I’m older,
I no longer need to conform to some limited standard of manhood
I am no longer ashamed to cry
Maybe that’s true
But the tears now come
Without control,
Prickling at my eyes
And constricting my throat
Unbidden
I’m glad now that tears come so readily,
I think it might mean that my emotions
Are close to the surface
You’re not supposed to
‘Wear your heart on your sleeve’
In our culture
I wear my heart on my chest
Proudly,
It’s like a medal,
And the inscription reads:
‘Thoroughly human
