But Why Must We Have These Tears? This morning, I’m noticing that “tear” and “tear” are spelled exactly the same. I cried tears (salty liquid secreted from eye glands) in 2008 as I watched the Obama family enter the stage after victory. This morning I cried tears (salty liquid secreted from these same eye glands) as I woke at 4:30 to face the reality that I had tried to smother with my pillow at midnight, ‘oh, just let me have a few hours of sleep’ – defeat. In both momentous occasions, my tears carried emotions tied to possibility – joyful and fearful possibility. But why must we have these tears? And then, there is tear (to rip apart by force). Yes, this is what I feel this morning as I hold my stomach tight with crossed arms. But, for months, I have been saying that these are times when the veils are being more than lifted, they are being torn away – from Sandra Bland to Brexit, from Kaepernick to the buffalo at Standing Rock. But why must we have these