THE TEAR*

THE TEAR By Paulo Rebelo That moment, That in my final death throes Solitary came to me True time, I reflected. I remembered you and other loved ones In a split second; An eternity spun at speed Of light in a film In cineloop. I said goodbye to everyone At that instant; It was my rescue. from my eyes A tear fell. poured lonely Intense and deep, But full of symbolism. it wasn’t a tear Religious or mystical, it wasn’t esoteric Nor ideological, It wasn’t for joy Not even sadness. it was a drop which overflowed completeness And finally, peace. My redemption. Behold, it was a single drop, how condensed It said it all. the value of all my existence Came squeezed From the heart, Who cried profusely, That’s why I froze Eternalized time. Thanks for everything, For life, at that time, Then, the cycle was closed. Just a drop of tears… There I was bleeding On the cross. was strand from a waterfall of millions of liters Of trapped tears, Accumulated from time In which I was born; It was the stuck knot In the released throat. a single tear expressing life On the last exit, That exploded in a torrent of emotions, for freeing me From ineffable pain, The scream I couldn’t scream, From the hugs I couldn’t give, of human warmth that I couldn’t feel, for freeing me Of remorse, From the fault, From the fear of abandonment, for having had time of reconciliation with me And with the next. for having regretted And ask for forgiveness. What was left to ask? There would always be a doubt, Well, I’m human. In the final fit, The uncontained tear, That silently flowed from my eyes, When, finally, Life made sense. Paulo Rebelo, the poet doctor. P.S. I assisted several terminally ill patients, and like few others, I had the unique opportunity to share their “final considerations” about their lives. In this poem, I tried to speak for them; it is a brief summary of his anxieties, fears and touching dreams in the face of fatality.