Little girl Quote by Francesca Lia Block
““And then I cried a flood of tears as if I really were a mermaid who had absorbed too much sea into herself. The tears spilled like a balm, like a potion, like a charm. In them swam a little girl whose father was dying without ever having seen her. In them swam a girl whose mother’s magic – the only thing the girl envied more than anything else in the world, the thing that had made her invisible, the most precious thing –might be dying too. In them swam a green-haired girl who had never been touched by the boy to whom she was so devoted that she would have lived with him forever in a shack by the sea or a ruined sand castle even if he never made love to her. My tears were for me, but they were also for him. They were to wash away the thing that had frightened him so much so long ago. The wound inside his thigh. My tears poured out of me and he drank them down his throat. He drank them in gulps deep into himself, swallowing sorrow. Someday,” he said, “when we are ready, I will give you back your tears.””
About This Quote
The narrator’s tears become a transformative elixir that carries sorrow, love, and unseen longing, offering a promise of healing and reciprocal sharing.
In simple terms: Tears act as a healing, shared potion.
Key Takeaway
Emotional release can nurture both giver and receiver.
Themes
emotion
healing
sacrifice
connection
Mood
poignant
melancholic
Type
poetic
narrative
When to use this quote
- confiding in a trusted friend
- rituals of mourning
Key Concepts
symbolic alchemy
shared grief
Practical Applications
- express grief openly
- offer empathy through shared vulnerability
Questions to Reflect On
- What does it mean to 'drink' another's sorrow?
- Can shared tears replace personal healing?
A Different Perspective
Relying on another to consume pain may create dependency.
