TEARS by Ruth Calder Murphy

Tears are powerful things, and often symbolic…

They’re also, frequently, a source of embarrassment and awkwardness, both on the part of the person shedding the tears and on the part of witnesses to them.

 It’s been shown that the release of tears is physically beneficial. When we cry, irritants and stress hormones are released. Tears contain healthy antibodies and serve to cleanse the eyes. Tears, in other words, are necessary and helpful.

 They also, often, represent a letting go - a reaching the end of the line, a metaphoric dying, before a re-birth or resurrection.

 Tears are powerful and are a part of us, who shed them - a part that we set free to flow, and that lead us to renewed strength and better places.

 So, cry. Weep, if you will. Don’t be ashamed. Let tears flow like rivers and, as the Nile creates a fertile, green valley in which civilizations have grown since time began, let the rivers of your tears nourish the soil of your soul.

Tears

Rain -

Clear as wishes,

dear as phantom kisses

falling light and bright to the basin

of my soul.

Rain on the skylight of my third eye,

shedding tears,

not knowing why -

falling like criminals on gallows,

giving up the chance to dry

in favour of flowing...

Power is here,

in cascading tears:

power and knowing

- of the womb,

of the tomb,

of the mystery of tapestry weaving and stitching,

avoiding the precipice of prejudice

and tunnelling, digging,

for treasure and safe passage

to the other side.

How deep and wide the journey winds

- through hearts and souls and minds.

How heavy the glory

of the lightest, brightest tears

that fall to wash my spectrum soul

and reclaim it, hale and whole.

Ruth Calder Murphy is a writer, artist, music teacher, wife and mother living in London, UK. Her life is wonderfully full of creativity and low-level chaos. She is the author of two published novels, “The Scream" and "The Everlasting Monday", several books of poetry and one or two as-yet unpublished novels. She is passionate about celebrating the uniqueness of people, questioning the unquestionable and discovering new perspectives on old wonders. She is learning to ride the waves that come along—peaks and troughs—and is waking up to just how wonderful life really is. You can visit Ruth and view more of her art on her website, or on her writer's page on Facebook. Her books are available on Amazon, here.

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~