Velvet Tear

D

uring the early days of the World Wide Web, I began to learn about HTML by creating my own web site—and later, producing web sites for various churches in the Stafford, Virginia, area. I had a little bit of trouble figuring out what to put on my web site so I finally settled on a section for each of a few of my interests—photography, philosophy, theology, and poetry.

I collected some poetry that I liked. Some of it struck me because of its cadence or clarity of thought. I was attracted to some of it because of the emotions it described. And much of it connected with me even though I couldn’t tell you why. The following poem fits into that last category, and it was brought to mind by the song in the Youtube video below it. I have been a Mannheim Steamroller fan for almost two decades and “Velvet Tear” or “Interlude V” is one of my favorites.

Tears

Carolyn Campbell

Quietly they fall, disturbing nothing.
No trace left behind as they vanish.
Yet their existence holds so much.
A clear morsel full of turmoil.
How can something so light
contain such a heavy load?
Perhaps when there are many
they share an equal portion,
easing the pain they carry
one itself could not bear.
Together they bring strength.
Alone they would surely die.

Velvet Tear

Mannheim Steamroller