This, one of my favorite poems, speaks so eloquently to the ties that bind us all together. It explains, far better than any other words I’ve read or written, the reason (with apologies to Paulo Cohelo) tears are words that must be written.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
~John Donne~