Ray Bradbury knew it:
"And besides, I like to cry. After I cry hard it's like it's morning again and I'm starting the day over."
"I heard everything now."
"You just won't admit you like crying, too. You cry just so long and everything's fine. And there's your happy ending. And you're ready to go back out and walk around with folks again...."
"That don't sound like no happy ending to me."
"A good night's sleep, or a ten-minute bawl, or a pint of chocolate ice cream, or all three together, is good medicine, Doug."
~ Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury
Galway Kinnell knew it, too:
Crying
by Galway Kinnell
(from Three Books)
Crying only a little bit
is no use. You must cry
until your pillow is soaked!
Then you can get up and laugh.
Then you can jump in the shower
and splash-splash-splash!
Then you can throw open your window
and, "Ha ha! ha ha!"
And if people say, "Hey
what's going on up there?"
"Ha ha!" sing back, "Happiness
was hiding in the last tear!
I wept it! Ha ha!"
Wishing you a good cry, the feeling that it's morning again, and happiness that's been hidden.
~~~~~~~~~~
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12 comments:
This makes me both laugh and tear up a little at the same time. Well, heck - at least we're all learning to cry properly these days, right? Let it all out - and then, find the joy again.
Clearly, we need to weep more.
I've been watching my toddler grandson cry at frustration, yet he picks himself right back up after falling. I want to cry like a toddler, the all out scream, and then go back to splashing the bubbles.
I think there's a lot of truth here! Thanks, Karen!
There's a lot to be said for a good cry. And it's been awhile since I've had one. Thanks for the Galway Kinnell poem.
I was just thinking that it feels like running a marathon...the initial newness has worn off and now it's just "HOW many more miles?" (Of course, if you know me, you know I would never actually run a marathon, so perhaps real marathoners don't think that.)
What an interesting idea for happiness to be hiding in the last tear, like hope at the bottom of Pandora's box.
xo
Gosh, I love this post for the truth of it. Sometimes, I wish I could cry. I try and I cannot. Oh, for the days I could cry easily.
I'll think of this poem the next time tears want to come...and I'll let them, remembering the washed-clean feeling and the happiness that await after the last tear!
It feels so right for this end of August going into more unknown, Karen, a permission needed? Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury is one of my all-time favorite books, re-read about every other year. Thanks for that quote reminder & Kinnell's poem.
Thanks for this great reminder to cry to let it out and then find happiness, Karen.
I actually long for a good cry. Loved Kinnell's poem. Most of the time I'm either angry or numb. The whole country should cry instead of dealing with their grief and loss with such dysfunction. Great lines from Bradbury and I
Yes to a good cry, if only it would find its way out… Maybe it will when things begin to improve a bit, thanks Karen.
I love the ending to that Galway Kinnell poem. And Ray Bradbury...his writing makes me swoon.
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