February 19, 2017
The Two Tears
From the earth arose two tears,
warm pearls, and dripped on the Creator’s feet
And said the first, trembling before the Divine Throne,
I came forth from the heart for its own pain...
And the Creator replied,
not a minute must you lose...
go and become balsam,
the heart’s pain to heal...
And said the other one, trembling before the Divine Throne,
I came forth from the heart for a stranger’s pain...
And the Creator replied,
“You stay with me...
for tears of Compassion
are my own tears….”
J. Polemis (1862-1924)
(We thank His Eminence Metropolitan Demetrios of Sevastias
for suggesting the poem “The Two Tears” as a Pastoral Thought)