Poem: A Tear

4 min readJul 6, 2023

Tears are the ultimate, authentic expression of a human. Even animals know how to shed a tear.

“Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before — more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.”
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

On a quiet Thursday morning, I woke up with the image of a sparkling tear on a single eye. So I started writing one poem, followed by another, and then another. Priya — the master of melancholy chipped in with two of her pieces, poignant to say the least.

So here you go. A simple opening for what turned out to be a tearful series.

Poem 1: A TEAR.

A tear.
A little drop of salt water.
Right at the corner of my eye.
Just a moment before,
A little surge in my heart
That swelled like a volcano
At that moment it all sunk in.
Things will never be the same.
All those moments are now trapped
As memories at the corners
of the deep volcanic abyss.
I journey alone from here on.
Sailing the seas of life
Riding the waves of the salty waters.
But it all starts -
Right at the corner of my eye.
a little drop of salt water.
A tear.
~Ashok Subramanian © 2023

Poem 2: A Tear: The Attributes

A tear is the ultimate signature of sorrow. So I explored the sorrowful attributes of a tear.

A tear.
The wetness of sorrowful silence.
Uncontrolled overflow of my brimming heart.
Salty mirror of our sweet past.
Encapsulated message to nobody.
The compressed might of the ocean within.
A biological wash of an unclear soul.
A little waterfall of our memories,
Vaporizing into thin air.
An acknowledgment of vacancy
Your absence beside me.
A spherical capsule of sorrow.
A salty pill to swallow.
A cleansing act for my soul.
A clear visibility into the future.
A tear.
~ Ashok Subramanian © 2023

Poem 3: IT HAPPENED

Priya joined the fray with an impactful verse, that I read again and again. Did you?

A tear
I felt the stirring
of emotions,
so intense
that even I
could not stop
the tear
It was there, waiting
lurking in the darkness
brewing alongside
other tears,
ready to slide
down my cheek
The pain had been building
the stress mounting
the hurt compounding
my fears astounding
my heart pounding
and it happened
A tear
~ ©️ Priya, July 5, 2023 🕉

Poem 4: HAPPY TEARS

So what about the tears of positivity? Happiness, victory, joy, laughter, and relief? So, here you go. I took a ride on the high road of positive tears.

A tear.

The happy ones exist.
Testimonies of a surreal experience.

Like the full blossom in spring
Dipped in morning dew drops.

The beginning of a winner’s cry.
The salty juice of accomplishment.

A perfect complement to your smile
A watery pearl of happiness.
The spillover from a ROFL
Tickling the happy buds

A leak from the saltwater basin
From the bottom of the deep ocean of love.

That giveaway of great relief
When your eyes light in disbelief.

I welcome you in my heart
With that salty sprinkles of joy.

Also called -
A tear.

~Ashok Subramanian © 2023

Poem 5: A WINTER TEAR

Priya writes:

Your poem is beautiful Ashok Subramanian, light like sunshine, but you know me …

Her poem is melancholic but read for the mastery of her words.

A tear
We stood still
in the middle
of an all-white room
back to back
in a sense of gloom
fingers barely touching
hearts pounding
wondering how
we got here
We stood still
silently in a storm
aching for a way
to simply transform
everything wrong
we thought could be right
everything black
into white
We stood still
staring from
wall to wall
waiting patiently
for the snow to fall
but the only thing
that fell was
A tear.
~Priya (c) 2023

Poem 6: A TEARDOWN OF A TEAR

I wrote this poem as a final piece before I closed my eyelids trapping a drop that formed at the corner of my eyes.

A tear –
Unshed is life not lived-
Filled with unexpressed regrets
Like water locked in a dam
An untouched palette and
A plain, empty canvas.

A tear-
Just for that moment
Holds everything within
The past, present, and the future
Reflecting on the moment’s sunshine
Colliding in a frozen timeframe

A tear-
Is the signature of emotions
Of ultimate authenticity
As the expression of our souls
Catharsis for the mind
A healing touch to wounds

A tear –
mends a tear –
Of the heart, soul, and mind
Letting the past go
And a passport to the future.
~Ashok Subramanian © 2023

So, here we end with a quote.

“Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.”
― Edgar Allan Poe

Adieu, dear tear.