crocodile tears

if you were tied in a chair

like Alex in

A Clockwork Orange,

with your eyes pried permanently open

with a mechanism built to do just that &

you were forced to look out at the terrible things happening in the world &

you could not turn your head & look away

& you could not seek conversation with a loved one

or find distraction in any other way,

would you then cry an honest tear &

not a load of crocodile ones?