A King's Tears

A King's Tears is JLHenry's second poetry collection and serves as a deeply personal exploration of the experiences, emotions, and questions that shape a man's life.

The collection begins with introspection. The speaker searches for direction while confronting the emotional weight of being expected to remain strong. Poems such as "A King's Soul," "Walls," "Creator," and "Conflict Of Manhood" establish one of the book's central themes: the conflict between vulnerability and the expectations placed upon men to remain strong, silent, and composed.

As the collection progresses, the poems become increasingly personal. "Shallow Graves" confronts accountability and repentance, while "They Don't Pray" reflects on personal change and the struggle to survive despite circumstances that have fundamentally altered the speaker. "Olive Branch To The Broken Hearted" turns inward again, acknowledging personal responsibility and the damage that grief and misplaced emotions can cause within a relationship.

Grief becomes one of the collection's most intimate subjects in "August 6th," where the speaker reflects on the loss of Elise and the lasting pain of losing a child. The poem captures the reality that healing does not necessarily mean forgetting, and that some wounds remain long after the tears appear to have stopped.

From there, the collection expands beyond personal experience into questions of history, identity, spirituality, community, and social responsibility. Poems including "The Writing Is On The Wall," "Fatigue," "Enslavement," and "A True American Hero" confront historical narratives, violence, injustice, and the complicated relationship between individual responsibility and collective suffering.

The final poems bring the collection back toward purpose. "The Great Commission" encourages perseverance and self-development, while "A King's Tears" challenges the reader to look beyond mourning and protest toward personal responsibility and meaningful change.

The collection ultimately closes with "A King's Tears Have Dried," a powerful reflection on historical suffering, memory, injustice, and the question of whether love and forgiveness can truly heal wounds that society continues to ask people to forget. The book does not offer an easy resolution. Instead, it leaves the reader with a question:

"Where's the love at then?"

At its heart, A King's Tears is about what happens when a man stops hiding the wounds beneath his crown-and finally allows himself to speak.