Sacred Tears

                                                Sacred Tears

Eyes stinging, blurred by infection,

Doctor’s drops,

I stumble in the stinging snow.

Head down, seeing only

My shoes,

Black Boots,

Step by Step,

Bus by bus

To meet my son

In warmth,

Break bread through pain,

And smile again.

I got instead the cold

Shoulder, wind again searing

My eyes, his anger burned.

Staggering, starving, searching

For a place to eat open

On Veteran’s Day,

Five more blocks of cold

To cafe, cake, a moment’s warmth.

Then, standing in line

Awaiting prescription,

Two hundred dollars,

Well spent, I knew,

As I rubbed burning, stinging eyes,

I wept salty, sacred tears.

A stranger took my hand then,

And walked me to the bus.