A Poem

Thanksgiving week is here, and the beginning of the holiday season. I am filled with gratitude for many things, and also very hopeful for the year ahead.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how progress – both professional and personal – can begin with communicating with authenticity and listening well. Today, I have a more personal blog entry. I’d like to share a poem I wrote last weekend. And I wish for you a wonderful holiday.

If tears are words to be spoken

I must have a lot to say

I fear I would repeat myself

I can’t speak for the pain

If tears are words to be spoken

Each one deserves its place

In oratory declaration

Somewhere in time and space

My tears are words to be spoken

They are nothing to dread

They inform and instruct and even delight

And remind me I’m not dead

Your tears are words to be spoken

What do you have to say?

You are worth expressing

Though it’s hard to speak through the pain

Each tear is a word that needs speaking

That is how our wounds heal

Whether listening, speaking or crying

Living requires this zeal

The world has tears that need speaking

From hate, religion and fear

Speaking is how we heal the world’s wounds

And listening with respect and care

Imagine a world

With no more tears that need speaking

Where would we be then?

The heaven of our dreams

Instead of the hell we’re in.