Tears of Laughter, But…

What brings a tear of joy to your eye?

There’s not been any tears of joy for years. I’m not sure joy has been an emotion I’ve experienced for awhile. I’d like to feel that, but real life has intruded in such a way that that has not been possible.

I will pivot here and mention a poem I wrote that includes the phrase, “Tears of laughter.” It deals with getting older and finding the metaphorical garden of one’s life being more difficult to handle. But there’s always a positive side.

Here’s the poem, followed by a performance video made in Second Life (in case you want to listen rather than read.)

“Echo Ever After”

So many years ago (well, not so many),
Together we planted a single rose,
And let it grow a garden all around us;
We stand hand in hand inside it today.

The garden didn’t always grow as planned…
Some seeds that never took to root;
Some plants that withered on the vine;
Storms that made us run for cover.

But a path for us to walk was always there.
We look back and see it clearly now.
It seems, everything has its season…
It seems, everything happens for a reason…

Birds drink from the fountain,
A fountain filled with tears of laughter,
Tears of laughter, joy and love,
And tender thoughts that echo…ever after

The water fills a reflecting pool.
Are those ripples or wrinkles?
Sun and care and time have ripened us—
Have they made us wiser fools?

Our castle walls are not without their cracks.
Our garden has its thistles and its thorns.
The vines threaten yearly to smother
All that we built, all that we have. 

But they yield to our gardening hands,
Tending the growth as best we can.
Time, wind and weather smooth a stone;
We know this belongs to us, and us alone.

We walk the path barefooted,
Slowed by pebbles, thistles, and thorns.
We make our way more cautious now,
But it’s easier when walking hand in hand.