DON’T WIPE MY TEARS

i’ve learned to witness my tears

where they once collapsed
into an old story

i watch them now

i’ve learned not to interrupt
the tsunami
that comes after the quake

how naive
to think
i could ever stop
such a force

now
i watch them

i watch them
carve a river
down my face

carrying
all the versions of me
that quietly survived

carrying
the grief
that lived in my mother

and her mother

and all the mothers before her

the women
who built fortresses of grief
inside their bodies

so please

dont wipe my tears

don’t interrupt
the prayer
rolling down my face

my tears
are not leaving me

they are returning me
to the one
who no longer looks away.