Masculinity

it's not always a three-piece, it's

a t-shirt torn to shreds in the wilderness

A tearful cry that won't be stifled

by propriety. It's a smile

cast like a die, where the number

lands face-first in the dirt, but he climbs on

unconcerned. That's all fate is worth

to a real man

The cold does not care what he prays for

He takes it—not from someone unsuspecting—

From absence, Man hauls life in like a rope

Out of nothingness, he drills hope

For a future,

like sweet summer air,

breathed in/strawberry blonde hair

Back on earth, his worth is more than might.

He wrenches free his own mind

His right to be was born with him.

You want Masculinity? Take a mind and tell it

it's a bad thing to be so small to have to fight to survive but

there's no enemy in sight, so take that weakness inside

and kill it

Let him scream on the front lines. Let him build

forever in his mind, a bruise-black fortress, not a palace—

Made with love, mother of pearl, and gold.

Give him time, and a real man defines himself. Capture

his imagination and admire the future he lives up to. You know

he will listen and insist on climbing that peak alongside you. He knows

the top is only halfway

Photo by Kassandra Dick