Cry

A sign of weakness, the way that your lips tremble
Before a tear rolls down your cheek
Leaving behind a trace of the hurt you felt.

You're wearing your heart on your sleeve
You must be stronger than just curling up into a ball
In the corner of your room and letting the pain overthrow your serenity.

These things I tell myself before I succumb to the
Blissful release of tears and their salty taste on
My dried out, colorless lips.

You must be stronger
You're bold, beautiful, better than this
Choke it back, don't show them how much they hurt you.

The small voice in my head slowly grows louder
Letting me control myself, stopping the wetness in
It's tracks.

I do not cry.

I am strong
I am bold, beautiful, better than that
I have grown in my strength and in the way I see the world.

I do not cry.

Crying won't help anything
And just makes you look like a sissy
It isn't a release, it's an excuse to keep yourself from examining the pain.

From thinking too much about it.

We are strong enough
Each of us
To not cry, to see clearly to problems that we face.

I do not cry.

But ask yourself this:
Do you?

-fin-