BLACK BEAR | PROMPT | LIQUID EMOTION

When The Unshed Tears of a Generation Start to Weep

We catch a glimpse of what they’ve hidden for decades

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I’ve noticed a phenomenon that seems to occur as people age: they no longer hold back tears that were once so easily contained. Men are the greatest mystery to me when it comes to this — the ones who’ve spent a lifetime in steel-clad armour, like my father, with a shield so thick that not even the death of a son could penetrate his exterior. Not a single tear escaped him. Not in public. Not that I saw. Not that anyone saw.

If he cried in private, we’ll never know. But I’m not talking about private tears.

The unbreakable has somehow been exposed. The vault that has protected them for so long seems to crumble under the weight of time. The elements have corroded whatever outer shell they possessed, melting away their layers at whim. It’s baffling to witness.

My father had only two faces his entire life — stealth or rage. Although I remember one drunken night with relatives when he burst into song, which nearly stopped my teenage heart in shock. So, how is it possible that he became an emotional time bomb in his…