PRAYING TEARS

by Ibinabo Enebi

My eyeballs hurt As you roll down my cheeks, Each drop shed A reminder of what would have been.

Curled behind my bathroom door, My face buried between my knees, A scene so familiar to those Brought down by their needs.

Every drop hurts, A pain my head now bears, Ever so familiar with the throbbing Of a recalcitrant migraine.

I try to hold you back But you burn through my eyes, You've welled up with every thought I can't control your flow.

My eyes are sore and puffy. My head is about to explode. My nose is red and dry, Aching too from my many blows.

For those who know They know the pain. The sting and jerks from regrets, As they judge themselves so harshly.

Tears on my bathroom floor, A pool of self-doubt. Shed in solitude and silence, Precipitating into showers That water my future.

At last, the tears have ceased! There's hope for my future, A rainbow across my sky. I'm back on my feet, I'm not going back down. The tears on my bathroom Have watered my future.