Before It Falls

Not every tear is asking to be seen.

Some remain suspended

between what we feel

and what we're willing

to reveal.

We become fluent

in holding ourselves together.

Answering,

smiling,

continuing,

as though nothing inside us

has shifted.

Perhaps strength

has been misunderstood.

Perhaps it isn't

never breaking.

Perhaps it's knowing

there comes a moment

when nothing more

needs to be held.

Maybe the tear

was never the weakness.

Maybe holding it

was.