I could feel my heart expand reading this poem. I am so glad you unlearned all of that programming, Larry, and that you can enjoy the liberation of tears.
Thank you Lisa! The poem could have gone any number of directions. The reality is that my work at the University showed me how to hug intentionally, to love more expansively and to cry, anytime, anywhere. In a world where hearts are breaking every day and my own doing the same, how could I not cry? Thank you for the prompt and for being the best prompting teaching guide out there.
I miss you too! I've been popping in to read some of the poems and comment when I have the bandwidth, but even that has been harder, so I'm trying not to push it for now. I'm looking forward to when I can be a regular again! 🧡
“I am free!” — I love this Larry, and your description of how you got there in spite of the relentless generational pull the other direction. I’m so glad the dam broke and you are you!
I have so much material for crying poems, lol! This one is about my young friend Denali, who is a beautiful singer and has made me tear up a few times this past week in a couple gigs of hers that I've attended. Both times, she started with a kind of low-key Blackbird and then moved into a dazzling rendition of Fields of Gold. Also, she is fledging and moving over the mountains, so more tears for that.
This is absolutely beautiful, Rebekah! What a wonderful tribute and poem/song for Denali, and her lovely blending of two classic songs. I’d like to hear her sing this!
I would have been right there crying with you! I love your poem, Treasa. "Make believe ships / on see through glass that / separates our world / from theirs in an / animated wreckage." What stirring and gorgeous lines!
I love this. Are the Titantic Museums there like ours in the USA - we have what is essentially a tourist destination type museum in Branson, MO and in TN. I found it a bit disturbing that their plight was our entertainment when we went.
The museum in Belfast is situated on the dock where the Titanic was originally built, a lot of the museum focuses on the local workers and their craftsmanship. I skipped the gift shop. The building in Branson with the iceberg stuck to the side seems a bit distasteful, but awareness and education can't be a bad thing either.
"Crying lets me know / when I am thawing" - what gorgeous lines, and they feel so true for me, too. I love your beautiful poem and your evergreen soul!
Oh I love your poem and this whole post, Lisa. I'm a crier too, and have become much more so since taking up poetry and taking up an attempt to be more present and let whatever happens happen.
Lately, my kids have become OBSESSED with the Back to the Future movies (which is my doing). I find there are many points in those movies that make me cry now, points that never had this effect when I was younger. And I often get choked up trying to explain what I believe to be the most important or most impactful moments in the movies, which are always about human stories, not science fiction (though I love SciFi!), like when George finally stands up to Biff of his own volition (not just reciting the lines Marty gave him), protecting Lorraine. In trying to help my kids understand the movies, I myself realized that one of their main themes is that our choices matter, often much more hugely than we thought they would. That's tear worthy!
I'm a big proponent of killing the old "boys don't cry" toxic cultural artifact. Just like you, I cry at children's animated movies too. Crying feels fantastic! Liquid proof that you are letting your body be a vessel for powerful emotions. That's something to be proud of!
I don't know how much time you have, but your poem reminded me of this hilarious yet touching 2.5-min song/video by Flight of the Conchords:
I’d be so interested to hear your thoughts on the relationship between your taking up poetry and your taking up the attempt to let whatever happens happen (which calls one of my favorite lines of Rilke to mind). It feels to me like I got pulled to poetry because I was finally letting everything happen and letting life speak to me, but now engaging with poetry is also helping me to grow/relax/explore more deeply into that allowing.
Back to the Future! I am certain I got choked up by the same part when I last watched it with my boys - who are all criers, but also all have a bit of shame about it that I’m trying to help them unlearn. I probably won’t entirely succeed - not in this culture, but the effort feels important to me. I just watched the Flight of the Conchords video with my 8-Year-old and we shared a good laugh. I adore that song and it had been a long time since I’d heard it or even thought of it, so thank you!
You are an awesome mom, Lisa. Thank you for your incalculable contributions to humanity via your art and your motherhood, both of which are deepest expressions of the universe creating through you. I know your boys and their decedents will have richer and more meaningful lives because of your guidance and compassion.
I'm going to put on my poet hat again and share another one, to your first inquiry:
Thank you for your generous and encouraging words, Mike! I am certain all of the same things can be said of you (subbing in fatherhood for motherhood, of course).
What a poem! These lines in particular will really stay with me “To express well /
one must experience well.” We talk about and tend to think about experience like it’s this passive thing that just happens to you. The notion of experiencing WELL is so intriguing and a really helpful way to think about our relationship to the world . . . and to art.
What a magnificent poem, Mike. Your interplay of tense and pronouns, experience and mindfulness, and relationship is so adept, creative and beautifully precise. A true delightful experience to read.
This is so sweet! Although it might not have felt sweet to be surrounded by all of those gnashing teeth! Those little ones are lucky to have you, Karri.
Oh, I love it. I cry so often, but I'm not sure I've written a poem about it. I still just haven't been able to focus on writing much lately, but I'll be keeping this one in mind just in case!
No pressure - I have writing dry spells (especially during life's wettest spells), and sometimes that just is what it is, and it's a wave that has to be ridden to its end - but I miss you and your poems! ❤️
The last time I cried was when my sister-in-law and niece were laughing so hard about something so silly. And the Olympics always make me cry too. Certain movies. Someone once told me that crying was god's way of washing the windows.
I love this lovely poem (and the prompt). I'm so looking forward to tackling this one later (I know I keep saying that, but all your prompts are just so good, and then I keep running out of time...). I'm a crier too, so I have a ton of memories around happy tears and sad tears.
A fellow crier! ❤️ I bet there are a lot of us here. And I 100% understand wanting to write more poems and play with more prompts and do more of everything than what is actually humanly possible. I feel that way about so many things - including reading all the incredible writers here on Substack!
I love that you share your life with us and are willing to be vulnerable. I’m a crier too. Too many scenarios to list that will get me started. Videos of loved ones re-uniting always gets me. Anyone overcoming a challenge-the movies: Rudy, Il Postino, It’s A Wonderful Life…love Jimmy Valvano’s quote: “To me, there are three things we all should do every day. If we do this every day of our life, you’re going to … What a wonderful … Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think, you should spend some time in thought. And number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears.”
I love the idea that being moved to tears daily is a sign of getting something right, rather than the opposite! That’s so lovely, Billy - thank you for sharing.
This is beautiful. To be with someone (or have someone be with you) in their tears can be such a space of meaning and connection. I feel so honored when someone lets me see them cry . . . which probably means I should be more willing to do that, too!
This is such a good prompt! I have some notes from early on in my third pregnancy last year about all the things I cried at so maybe those notes are asking to be turned into a poem!
What a wonderful poem and prompt, Lisa! There is so much here! Off to cycle, and some of my best poems often come out there--(and often stay there!). Thank you for being the convener of bright lights and a blazing beautiful bright light yourself!
Hi Lisa, I'm here through the recommendation of LeeAnn Pickrell. Being a 65 years old man, crying is not a go-to place, certainly not voluntarily. We were raised, for good and bad, to ignore pain and that leads to problems for sure. I just reread it and really don't like the tears they bring. https://westonpparker.substack.com/p/the-best-man
This one flowed from the bicycle ride this evening, a clear, cool summer wind by my side.
No Holding Back
^
Once the walls were as high
as the Hoover Dam,
impenetrable as a rhododendron thicket,
a fortress of security
where no light ever shined.
^
Generations of stoicism,
genetic disposition,
distorted gender roles
mountains of shame
and dysfunctional families,
kept the tears locked inside.
Even then the sadness seeped around the edges,
found its way into child’s play,
lost laughter, broken smiles,
restless nights and raucous relationships
the script handed down from heats frozen long ago.
Through it all there were no tears.
^
When the dam broke,
And I learned how to cry
tears flowing like storm filled river,
liberating, life giving,
love breathing baptism of hope,
I ran outside in the midnight moon,
and shouted “I am free.”
I could feel my heart expand reading this poem. I am so glad you unlearned all of that programming, Larry, and that you can enjoy the liberation of tears.
Thank you Lisa! The poem could have gone any number of directions. The reality is that my work at the University showed me how to hug intentionally, to love more expansively and to cry, anytime, anywhere. In a world where hearts are breaking every day and my own doing the same, how could I not cry? Thank you for the prompt and for being the best prompting teaching guide out there.
I wish everyone could learn how to do all those things. I think we'd be much better off.
I agree, A. I miss you! 😘
I miss you too! I've been popping in to read some of the poems and comment when I have the bandwidth, but even that has been harder, so I'm trying not to push it for now. I'm looking forward to when I can be a regular again! 🧡
True wisdom to know what you need and to follow that direction. You are a blessing no matter where you are. 💚
So beautiful, Larry.
Thank you Lindsey!
There is definitely a freedom and release in tears, you capture this beautifully here.
Thank you Treasa!
I feel your freedom through these words Larry!
Thank you Karri!
“I am free!” — I love this Larry, and your description of how you got there in spite of the relentless generational pull the other direction. I’m so glad the dam broke and you are you!
Thank you for your gracious and kind comment, Rebekah!
Wonderful, Larry. Liberating, life giving, love breathing baptism of hope-beautiful and powerful.
Thank you Billy!
I have so much material for crying poems, lol! This one is about my young friend Denali, who is a beautiful singer and has made me tear up a few times this past week in a couple gigs of hers that I've attended. Both times, she started with a kind of low-key Blackbird and then moved into a dazzling rendition of Fields of Gold. Also, she is fledging and moving over the mountains, so more tears for that.
.
Baby blackbird
tests her range,
conscious of the flock
and curling around
the safety of
low notes,
.
until August
turns around and
in that slip,
the barley is gold
and the baby
is gone.
This is such a lovely tribute to Denali! I love how spare but evocative the words are. I'm kinda wanting a song to be born from this!
I would have loved to have heard that! What a nice way to honor your friend!
This is absolutely beautiful, Rebekah! What a wonderful tribute and poem/song for Denali, and her lovely blending of two classic songs. I’d like to hear her sing this!
WOMEN & CHILDREN FIRST
.
'ah look at that wee lass crying'
a scots woman says from
the far end of a bench
I sat on to catch my breath
my held back tears
now let spill in dim light
after reading the list
of projected names
.
50% children lost
80% men perished
3 of 12 dogs survived
97% first class women
sat in first class seats
on half filled life boats
.
I watch a child on his knees
zoom make believe ships
on see through glass that
separates our world
from theirs in an
animated wreckage
.
On a visit to the Titanic Museum in Belfast at the weekend. I found it strange that I was the only one crying, how could I not.
I would have been right there crying with you! I love your poem, Treasa. "Make believe ships / on see through glass that / separates our world / from theirs in an / animated wreckage." What stirring and gorgeous lines!
Thanks so much Lisa. I would have offered you a tissue.
The story of the Titanic always gets to me, too.
This is very tender and powerful, Treasa. . How could we not cry?
I love this. Are the Titantic Museums there like ours in the USA - we have what is essentially a tourist destination type museum in Branson, MO and in TN. I found it a bit disturbing that their plight was our entertainment when we went.
The museum in Belfast is situated on the dock where the Titanic was originally built, a lot of the museum focuses on the local workers and their craftsmanship. I skipped the gift shop. The building in Branson with the iceberg stuck to the side seems a bit distasteful, but awareness and education can't be a bad thing either.
Crying lets me know
when I am thawing,
the fierce fearful ice
encrusting heart’s tender shoots
melting, softening, succumbing
to the warmth of connection and
the light of identification.
Cold control crumbles, liquifies.
Warm salty droplets tumble, emulsify
into the sweet spring that
restores my evergreen soul
and wets my cheeks.
"Crying lets me know / when I am thawing" - what gorgeous lines, and they feel so true for me, too. I love your beautiful poem and your evergreen soul!
I love the idea of tears as both signal of internal thawing and restorative agent all of their own. Beautiful, Keith!
I too love the line about thawing. Sometimes we have no choice but to stay frozen to survive the situation; but what a relief when the thaw comes.
This is lovely, Keith. What a splendid beginning, “crying lets me know/when I am thawing…”. May your sweet evergreen soul continue to shine.
Oh I love your poem and this whole post, Lisa. I'm a crier too, and have become much more so since taking up poetry and taking up an attempt to be more present and let whatever happens happen.
Lately, my kids have become OBSESSED with the Back to the Future movies (which is my doing). I find there are many points in those movies that make me cry now, points that never had this effect when I was younger. And I often get choked up trying to explain what I believe to be the most important or most impactful moments in the movies, which are always about human stories, not science fiction (though I love SciFi!), like when George finally stands up to Biff of his own volition (not just reciting the lines Marty gave him), protecting Lorraine. In trying to help my kids understand the movies, I myself realized that one of their main themes is that our choices matter, often much more hugely than we thought they would. That's tear worthy!
I'm a big proponent of killing the old "boys don't cry" toxic cultural artifact. Just like you, I cry at children's animated movies too. Crying feels fantastic! Liquid proof that you are letting your body be a vessel for powerful emotions. That's something to be proud of!
I don't know how much time you have, but your poem reminded me of this hilarious yet touching 2.5-min song/video by Flight of the Conchords:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pVT_mvvZLo
I’d be so interested to hear your thoughts on the relationship between your taking up poetry and your taking up the attempt to let whatever happens happen (which calls one of my favorite lines of Rilke to mind). It feels to me like I got pulled to poetry because I was finally letting everything happen and letting life speak to me, but now engaging with poetry is also helping me to grow/relax/explore more deeply into that allowing.
Back to the Future! I am certain I got choked up by the same part when I last watched it with my boys - who are all criers, but also all have a bit of shame about it that I’m trying to help them unlearn. I probably won’t entirely succeed - not in this culture, but the effort feels important to me. I just watched the Flight of the Conchords video with my 8-Year-old and we shared a good laugh. I adore that song and it had been a long time since I’d heard it or even thought of it, so thank you!
You are an awesome mom, Lisa. Thank you for your incalculable contributions to humanity via your art and your motherhood, both of which are deepest expressions of the universe creating through you. I know your boys and their decedents will have richer and more meaningful lives because of your guidance and compassion.
I'm going to put on my poet hat again and share another one, to your first inquiry:
Per Sona
.
Being creative
and being mindful
are two sides
of the same coin.
.
To express,
one must first experience.
.
To express well,
one must experience well.
.
Writing these things
is as much about being
open and listening
as it is a decision to make.
.
The irony is
I came up with this
while trying to be present
and getting lost in the expressing
in the middle of the experiencing
of the present.
.
Yes, that is a confession.
You can tell because it's
in the first person,
the mind's I.
.
And mind you,
second person,
the mind's you,
.
there is plenty of room
for you too, my friend.
.
That is the present,
my gift to you.
.
Poetry is so effective
because it takes so much attention.
.
You must listen closely
to make this connection.
.
And when you hear me so boldly,
you can’t help but get to know me.
.
.
.
(from a collection here: https://mikesperiosu.substack.com/p/communication-space)
Thank you for your generous and encouraging words, Mike! I am certain all of the same things can be said of you (subbing in fatherhood for motherhood, of course).
What a poem! These lines in particular will really stay with me “To express well /
one must experience well.” We talk about and tend to think about experience like it’s this passive thing that just happens to you. The notion of experiencing WELL is so intriguing and a really helpful way to think about our relationship to the world . . . and to art.
Thank you so much, Lisa!! Your engagement in your comments section is top notch. What a cool and uplifting community you’ve garnered here!
I agree - I really don’t know how I’ve lucked into all these wonderful humans!
What a magnificent poem, Mike. Your interplay of tense and pronouns, experience and mindfulness, and relationship is so adept, creative and beautifully precise. A true delightful experience to read.
Thank you, Larry!! I’m so touched by your words. Thank you for the gift of deeply reading and understanding it.
"Poetry is effective
because it takes so much attention."
Yes!
There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth on the first day in the preK school I started work at this week. I call this Naptime.
The lights are dimmed
In the rooms
Of their new primary colored world.
As the quiet music plays,
Tiny tears and soft sobs
Are heard down the hallway.
Backs are patted,
Hugs are given,
Sad hearts are reassured.
This is so sweet! Although it might not have felt sweet to be surrounded by all of those gnashing teeth! Those little ones are lucky to have you, Karri.
So tender! Tiny tears and soft sobs…oooph 🥹
So tender, and so important for kids to feel they can cry in a safe space.
A nice first day of school poem, Karri! Blessings to you in your new setting! 🙏🏻
Oh, I love it. I cry so often, but I'm not sure I've written a poem about it. I still just haven't been able to focus on writing much lately, but I'll be keeping this one in mind just in case!
No pressure - I have writing dry spells (especially during life's wettest spells), and sometimes that just is what it is, and it's a wave that has to be ridden to its end - but I miss you and your poems! ❤️
The last time I cried was when my sister-in-law and niece were laughing so hard about something so silly. And the Olympics always make me cry too. Certain movies. Someone once told me that crying was god's way of washing the windows.
I love that idea! Washing windows . . . so we can see out and others can peer on.
I love this lovely poem (and the prompt). I'm so looking forward to tackling this one later (I know I keep saying that, but all your prompts are just so good, and then I keep running out of time...). I'm a crier too, so I have a ton of memories around happy tears and sad tears.
A fellow crier! ❤️ I bet there are a lot of us here. And I 100% understand wanting to write more poems and play with more prompts and do more of everything than what is actually humanly possible. I feel that way about so many things - including reading all the incredible writers here on Substack!
There is no crying or not much, but yet it gives reason for tears. Good read!
Thank you so much, Luis!
I love that you share your life with us and are willing to be vulnerable. I’m a crier too. Too many scenarios to list that will get me started. Videos of loved ones re-uniting always gets me. Anyone overcoming a challenge-the movies: Rudy, Il Postino, It’s A Wonderful Life…love Jimmy Valvano’s quote: “To me, there are three things we all should do every day. If we do this every day of our life, you’re going to … What a wonderful … Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think, you should spend some time in thought. And number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears.”
Thanks Lisa-
I love the idea that being moved to tears daily is a sign of getting something right, rather than the opposite! That’s so lovely, Billy - thank you for sharing.
Family
I am grateful for our family
The way it is
The way it was
The way it will always be
The blending and the mixing
The purity
The pain
The long nights
The laughter
The joy
The celebration
The heartache
The despair
The distance and the doubt
All of it has worked
All of it has shaped us
Each an individual
But part of the whole
We have not only endured
We have lived and loved
We have dried each other’s tears
This is beautiful. To be with someone (or have someone be with you) in their tears can be such a space of meaning and connection. I feel so honored when someone lets me see them cry . . . which probably means I should be more willing to do that, too!
Thanks Lisa!
Very nice and tender Billy. You capture the breadth of family very well!
Thank you Larry!
The contrasts of this thoughtful, heartfelt list paint a beautiful landscape of depth and breadth, Billy
Beautiful! "Each and individual but part of the whole." A lovely description of a lovely family that can cry together.
Thanks for reading Karri!
It's a Wonderful Life is one of my favourites, and I always cry, too. I love that you ended your poem with "we have dried each other's tears."
Thanks A!
This also reminds me of an awesome poem called 'Wondrous' by Sarah Freligh about crying at the end of Charlotte's web! Love that poem!
Thank you so much for the recommendation - I’d never read it before, and it’s such a beautiful poem. Here’s a link for anyone else who wants to read it - https://janicefalls.wordpress.com/2023/03/08/wondrous-by-sarah-freligh/
What a wonderful poem! Thank you Kym and Lisa!
This is such a good prompt! I have some notes from early on in my third pregnancy last year about all the things I cried at so maybe those notes are asking to be turned into a poem!
If you feel up to sharing, I’d love to read the poem when you’re done!
Oooooh I love that idea! That’s such an intriguing idea for a poem.
What a wonderful poem and prompt, Lisa! There is so much here! Off to cycle, and some of my best poems often come out there--(and often stay there!). Thank you for being the convener of bright lights and a blazing beautiful bright light yourself!
No crying while biking, please - or at least not much! You need your vision.
Made it through tearless on the ride!
Every tear
That
Falls
Caries a tiny sliver
Of you
This well
Will drain dry
Someday
This poem holds so much in so few words! Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Lisa, I'm here through the recommendation of LeeAnn Pickrell. Being a 65 years old man, crying is not a go-to place, certainly not voluntarily. We were raised, for good and bad, to ignore pain and that leads to problems for sure. I just reread it and really don't like the tears they bring. https://westonpparker.substack.com/p/the-best-man
Weston, this is beautiful and heartbreaking. You drew me right into both love and loss. Thank you so much for sharing! ❤️
Thank you for reading