Heroes Weep Before Leaving by CS Crockett
We love stories that speak of adventure,
Ones that tell us “You too could be a hero!
You must set out from your home
And see all the wonder that lies before.”
We hear the call, but many may weep
Upon the news of our leaving.
This makes it hard for us to be leaving.
Even if we know that the adventure
Is our glorious fate, those who weep
Remind us that a lasting hero
Is not made when he leaves but before.
This is why we hold on hard to home.
For surely it will be a different home
After there has been this leaving.
No one can deny that what came before
Is greater than any gold-rumor adventure.
He who would leave this for gold is no hero,
But will gnash his teeth and weep.
But also among those who will gnash and weep
Are those who hold on too hard to home.
We feel disgust for that which clings to a hero
And would not have him be leaving.
There is certainly a time for adventure.
Home just will not be what it was before.
So let us not idolize what came before,
But let us keep for what we weep
To the end of this old adventure
That took place in our changing home.
It may be hard for us to be leaving,
But when has hard stopped a hero?
It is not easy being a hero.
We remember what we learned before
This moment, but now we are really leaving.
And with this realization we too may weep.
We too must set out from our home
In search of a hard adventure.
I understand why heroes weep.
Before, it was right to be home,
But we have to leave for adventure.
Personal Reflection
Most stories focus on the departure.
The map spread across a table.
The call to adventure.
The promise of distant horizons and extraordinary things waiting just beyond the familiar.
What they often leave out is the grief.
Not the grief of failure.
The grief of leaving something worth missing.
That is the truth at the heart of this poem.
The hero does not weep because they are weak. They weep because they understand the cost of movement. Every meaningful journey requires a farewell. Every transformation asks us to leave behind a version of ourselves, a place, a season, or a certainty that once felt permanent.
We celebrate courage, but we rarely talk about what courage actually feels like.
It rarely feels fearless.
More often it feels like standing in a doorway, looking back one last time.
The poem recognizes something important: a hero is not defined by a desire to escape home. In fact, the opposite may be true. Home matters precisely because it is difficult to leave. The memories, relationships, routines, and comforts we carry with us give meaning to the road ahead.
Without something worth leaving, there is no sacrifice.
Without sacrifice, there is no real adventure.
That idea feels especially relevant beyond fantasy and folklore.
People leave homes every day.
Children grow up.
Parents age.
Relationships end.
Careers change.
Dreams evolve.
Sometimes the journey is a new city.
Sometimes it is simply becoming a new version of yourself.
And almost every meaningful change comes with a moment when part of you wants to stay where it is safe and familiar.
The poem refuses to shame that feeling.
Instead, it honors it.
Because longing for what came before does not mean you are moving in the wrong direction. It simply means what came before mattered.
And yet the poem offers another truth:
Home is not meant to become a prison.
There comes a moment when love for the familiar must coexist with a willingness to grow beyond it.
The hero cries.
Then leaves anyway.
That is the difference.
Reflection Prompts
- What chapter of your life have you outgrown but still find difficult to leave behind?
- Have you ever mistaken fear of change for loyalty to the past?
- What journey is asking something of you right now?
Memoirs of Madness 