by Tea Solon

because instead of gently
teaching her how to cry,

he gives her a huge box of
pen and a bundle of paper

so she wails with longhand
written words as you would

with flowing tears. she fills
a page a chapter and even an

entire volume such that as she
ages and needs more from this

expression, noting the amount
of tears gushing from the pen

that her swollen hands could not
keep up, he buys her a typewriter.

she types in mezzo forte with
the familiar rhythms of raindrops

shed by dark grey clouds at
inclement thunderstorms.

full moons and equinoxes by
he gifts her with a computer

the modern tear vase where she
carefully saves her precious

heartbeats on empty white pages.
when she writes the eulogy for

him the day he passed on,
you can hear her fingers play

the keyboard in dolce cresendo
fortepiano sforzando fortissimo

decresendo morendo like lost
teardrops finding ways to spell out

every known word for grief.

September 21, 2022, Cebu City

Cebu, Philippines

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