James Anthony Ellis
Legacy Magazine Editor
From the Legacy Productions’ book “Tears: And Other Gifts from the Realm of Emotion.”
In 1996, a year before I did the Sterling Men’s Weekend, I was deeply involved in the healing field, embracing specific techniques to heal wounds of the past, for myself and even – as a facilitator – for others needing respite from their pain. In typical sharing spirit, I pulled together my creative writing in a book that year. It’s dedicated to the depth of emotions that few are courageous enough to tread. In this prose, I honor the power experienced in that surrender of grieving.
I push through bodies piled high upon my past
I trample the present, leaving bloody stains along the path
I see nothing left for me, futures can fade so fast
My eyes, once bright and blue, catch stars falling, downcast
So it’s life’s beauty I wish to smother and smear
Thank you God for the tear
It seems so ugly how we stumble, fall and bleed
While even our friends carry another option, notion and need
As we die a thousand deaths, each a lonely, deserted seed
In what was once a faithful garden, now a broken and battered creed
It’s now I wish to dissolve, disintegrate, disappear
Thank you God for the tear
It’s for the love of tears I write this prose
To place a light on God’s one final mercy
The sage, the mystic and the heart-filled knows
This world’s nectar can leave you thirsty
And the flavor of fear, isolation’s tasty treat
Makes separation and withholding all seem so neat
Leaving nothing to win, nothing to defeat
Only those consumed by the pain of their own retreat
Our screams, now muffled, we can not hear
Thank you God for the tear
It’s for the love of tears I write this song
So that one day a flood may break on through
And the stoic may crumble and therefore be strong
So that the false shall melt into the true
So the truth may arise, like the Sun reappear
Thank you God for the tear
The baby takes in a newly found breath
And settles onto a mother, a fond caress
The wedding vow holds divinity, a bond to bless
While the prayers and good-byes lay the fallen to final rest
Each comes with a burning intensity dear
Thank you God for the tear
And as I awake and pierce through this world’s lies
And I stretch open a heart, seen with bright new eyes
There’s finally a view from spirit – serene, free and wise
So that now, finally now, my soul sweetly cries
Nothing remains of the pain nor the fear
Thank you God for the tear
No, not childish, but an ancient, primeval path
No, not a waste, but a valuable treasure map
No, not giving up, but the symbol of surrender
No, not weakness, but the powerful heart mender
No, not hopeless, but a faith from inside
No, not destructive, but a cleansing ocean tide
No, not depressing, but the uplifting essence
No, not a losing, but the home of the presence
It’s for the love of tears I write this prose
The sage, the mystic and the faithful knows
To shine a beam on God’s great, grand gift
All of life’s expressions shall heart and soul lift
The all-encompassing, soothing song we now hear
Thank you God, thank you God … for the tear
The author, many years and many tears ago.
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James Anthony Ellis is a writer and producer living in San Diego, California. His book “Tears” can be purchased at the below link.