“Please Do Cry” – a poem

For the past couple of weeks, I have been participating in a “blog challenge”.  In this challenge, we accept the

photo by slevin

opportunity to to challenge ourselves to write a blog post on a certain schedule.  Most of the participants have chosen to attempt to write a blog post every day but I chose to write one on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays because it is a schedule that I wish to continue after the challenge ends.

This past week, Jenny Littlejohn of Striding-Ahead.co.uk posted a poem on her site that I wanted to share with you and she has graciously allowed me to do so.  It is a poem about giving yourself and others permission to cry.  As caregivers, we NEED to cry but we often postpone it saying to ourselves “I don’t have time for that now”.  Crying is healing.  It releases stress.  So the next time you feel like crying……

PLEASE DO CRY

How often, when someone cries
Do you hear them, so meekly, apologise?
As if somehow they’ve done something wrong
Instead, they’re just singing their healing song

How often when public tears do threat
your burning, shaming cheeks to wet
Do you try to blink away the pain
Treat it like some embarrassing stain

It seems to me, as we grow to adulthood
We are taught, crying in public is just not good
And when tears approach we shove them aside
Like a part of us, we just can’t abide

When you graze your skin and blood appears
You know it’s just your body shedding healing tears
It’s only natural that blood may flow
Allowing healing new skin to grow

Just why is it, that when our heart is bleeding,
when it’s just love that’s most needing
Do those that want to comfort us, sigh
There, there now, please don’t cry?

So, when next you have a wound to heal
Allow yourself to feel exactly what you feel
Embrace those tears like a precious prize
They are truly a blessing, totally undisguised

And when you see the tears of another,
turned inwards, their hurt they are trying to smother
Don’t turn away and walk on by
Ask them instead, please do cry

~ Jenny Littlejohn

You may find more of Jenny’s works at www.Striding-Ahead.co.uk/blog