See the tear

Copyright ©1998 by Richard J. Sereday Jr.
All rights reserved

Once there was a tear
rolling down the cheek
of a broken hearted boy
for all the world to see.

Some saw this tear,
as a sign of weakness.

But the eye
from which it came
belonged to a boy
who was anything but weak.

So why the tear?

It did not show weakness.
It showed pain.

The pain of seeing
the death of the dreams
of what was to come,
and what might have been,

and the pain of
the love once shared
now forever lost.

So what to do?

The boy had learned
to deal with pain,
in his own way,
or at least that is
what he kept
telling himself.

So what was his way,
he had to ask himself?

To hold his head up high,
and give the world
a big ol smile
as he slowly dies inside,

just a little bit at a time
till there's nothing left.

But his smile will hide his pain,
and the world will never know.
It's a little trick he learned,
so very long ago.