The Study Of Tears Poem by Lee Ann Schaffer

I left my tears where they’d
Fallen on the kitchen table
Where I’d sat writing to you.

I wanted to see how long it would
Take for them to evaporate.
I knew they would,

And hoped that it might be an
Indicator for the anguish
I was harboring.

Each time I passed the table,
I would glance
At the bulging discs,

Luminescent surface tension.

Still there.

I go check my e-mail,
Answer some,
Return…

They’re there.

Later I go
To the bathroom
For aspirin…

There.

I watch them throughout
Dinner,
Through each bite…

Right there.

Passing on the way
To unload
The dishwasher…

Still there.

Coming back from
The mailbox that
I’d forgotten this morning.

Still
There.
After reading, or trying to,
I take the trash out…

There they are.

Watch a movie –
A whole movie –
They must be gone…

Nope.
Still there.

As I turn out the lights
To go to my lonely bed,
I peek once more…

They’re there.

-But…

Like expected
Magic –
This morning…

They are gone.

Well, those
Shimmering, plump
Drops are gone.

Left in their places
Are perfect
Residual circles,

Flat, secret ghosts

Compressed pain.