When She Cries

She cries quietly,
not because she is weak,
but because she has been strong for too long.

Each tear carries words she never said,
promises she kept,
and wounds she learned to smile through.

The world sees her silence,
but not the storms she calms alone.
She doesn’t cry to be saved.
She cries to release the weight
of being okay when she wasn’t.

And when the tears finally rest,
she rises again—
not healed,
but brave enough to continue.