I often hide myself behind
a silhouette of me walking into the distance,
upon the cover of a book.
It hides my skin. The person within tells
my story, through scraps and scarred pages.
A tale with twists where I gave in,
became the man, society expected from me,
then found the man I knew myself to be.
Dare not stand out or be different.
to these male-ness police.
I could be flamboyant, Serious or silly.
post pictures of me, but the jibes would never cease.
I'm pigeonholed by what other men
think I should be. I've always struggled
to fit into this masculine society.
I'm a man. To fit in shouldn’t be a masquerade party,
I shouldn’t need to keep my emotions within,
to be the brooding silent type,
to value action over the cerebral,
Aim instead to always to be an equal. not out to fight.
We are told that we should
sow our seeds as we desire.
Other men will boast of conquests,
and notched bed posts.
Claim to be different, society calls you a liar,
or paints you a pariah.
Don't want to fade away like a ghost in the night
But would like someone you can hold tight.
Then you are seen as somehow weak,
Like wanting love makes you a freak.
If you say that sex is not your goal,
that there is so much more
They look at you like you sold your soul
to some holy admirer?
You are seen as not one of the blokes.
A failed gene that should have been cut at the core.
or at least mopped up in a Kleenex,
crumpled up on the floor.
Well, I'm here to say that being a man
is not about any of this.
It's about being able to speak our truth,
With a heaped tablespoon of respect.
Share your views by all means,
But how about not making everything about you
and accept when people disagree?
It's about looking at ourselves
Admit our flaws, let go of
the layers of trope shaped doors
we've had to traipse through.
Just to be seen as equal to other men,
who you don't even want to be anything like.
Because you despise that aspect of maleness to begin.
The only path to unity is for us to stop and listen,
accept our drawbacks. Our flawed callbacks,
not to be seen as attack, but a chance to build self-respect.
It's not what Hollywood projects,
It isn't this world where we push down and neglect.
Being a man is praising,
raising everyone above ourselves.
We can be great. But only when
we start to learn what being a man entails.
Thanks for reading
Please take a few moments
to check out my new book "Poetic Outlaw"
available from Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CVQ5F9K8/
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