To Be A Man

I learned to be a man

by how the world raised me.

Suffer in silence

they said.

Men had their time in the sun.

Now,

you must concede to everyone else–

let them have a turn.

They screamed it at me.

Be nothing.

Do nothing.

If you do

then you are the toxic

and we will hate you.

They whispered

that men had their time

and now you must starve

alone

in the rain.

They convinced me that

it’s what is best

for

the

world.

What it means to be a man

is to be told to be nothing -

and then become

something.

-C.H.