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.