The world is filled with tears.
They spring from eyes emotion-swollen,
running down the cheeks
across the bare or stubbled chin.
The world is filled with tears.

The fountains spray their eloquence,
responding to the pains of circumstance,
of body or of mind,
of tearing of the fragile soul.
The world is filled with tears.

From other eyes the liquid leaps for joy
like ocean spray and seething foam,
a coruscating rainbow of delight.
The world is filled with tears.

Oh, Holy One, I do not pray
for you to dry our tears today,
but that we weep, relieved of fear.
Oh, let these be our tears.

The image is a detail of the figure of Mary Magdalene in the sculpture The Entombment of Christ in the Church of St. Martin, Arc-en-Barrois, France. Photo by User:Vassil – File:Sépulcre_Arc-en-Barrois_111008_12.jpg, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16942922.