by Emma Freeman

I told myself

when I feel joy in my body

I will cry

I told myself

when I feel goosebumps of resonance on my skin

I will cry

I told myself

when I hear the cello sing her aching song

I will cry

I told myself

when I feel my heart touched by someone’s story

I will cry

I told myself

when I see something beautiful

I will cry

I told myself

when I sing and feel the presence of my grandmother

I will cry

I told myself

when I laugh and hear the echo

of my grandfather’s voice somewhere inside of my own

I will cry

I told myself

when I feel sadness and grief

about all that I cannot put into words

I will cry

I told myself

I will allow this soft body

to do what she is designed to do

to shed, to release, to cleanse, to feel

to feel

fully alive…