Sudden uncontrollable crying,

Embarrasses the English

Laughing, or feeling anger can occasion crying

A symptom of a condition called pseudobulbar affect (PBA).

This 'emotional incontinence' is spreading

Outwards like the ripples on a lake

Music is often the trigger

For a flood of tears

Sometimes it's just 

The passing of the years

For me it's cruelty

To children or to animals

That causes an excavation of the tear ducts

But also, happily, action

Campaigns against ritual slaughter

FGM, the sale of daughters;

Some prefer to turn a blind, dry eye

They have to live with that.