The After Tears

The storm has

rolled out,

an ordinary calm

carries in on its coattails.

All looks right in the world

until

a subtle rustle 

and

plink-plopping

of the after tears

reveal the traumatic

remnants 

of the deluge. 

Rain was forecasted to continue in an hour or so. A storm had just rolled through and at the moment it was a calm, gray day. I decided to squeeze in a walk along a trail in one of my favorite parks. 

While walking along the trail, I noticed the beaded drops of rain decorating the leaves as well as the tips of pine needles. It was beauty after the hours of rain that morning. Taking a few more steps down the trail, I heard raindrops hitting leaves and then falling farther down to my hat and skin. I stopped and thought -“Is it raining again? That was really quick.” But then, I realized no. It was the drops of water resting on the far above leaves being rustled causing the drops to fall. It was like an aftershock of the rainstorm. 

Thinking about this aftershock brought to mind the storms in life we walk through as humans. The actual storm may have passed and to everyone else you look fine and normal, but then something (a song, a scent, a text) brings remnants of that storm right back up to the surface. Tears spring from a well within and unexpectedly flow down our faces. It shakes us for a moment and takes us back. These after tears reveal the hidden healing that still needs to take place from the trauma of the storms we have walked through. 

I think we need to remember that others around us could be dealing with after tears that we don’t know about. So I suggest offering kindness to everyone you encounter because you never what may have been rustled to the surface that day.