“A man never cries”

Told when I was little

Or was it implied?

“Never let it dribble down your cheek”

A man speaks inside of me, I listen.

“Confide it within”

He says again, and so I did.

Built walls to cover up the pain

But it still lingered

Still simmered under my skin

Turning bones into ashes

Blood into smoke

Choking me, but it doesn’t escape my throat

I keep it hidden, Buried deep

Inside it must rot

Thinking it would fertilize the man on top

But it's more like broken glass

Broken pieces I live with

“Be a man” he tells me

His words etched inside my brain

“Pathetic” he whispers daily, I listen.

This is what it’s like to be a man

Can’t imagine it any different

Some are hollow

while others stuffed with pain

A hard shell all the same

From our mother's loving face

To the worlds cold embrace

Beaten, bloodied and bruised

Rituals that make men out of you

“A man never cries”

Told when I was older

Or was it implied?

I come from a tribe of warriors

That stole food from lions

I was raised a little more modern

But still feel their gaze

So I never let it dribble down my cheek

Inside me, they speak and I listen.