Men don’t cry
My father once told me“ men don’t cry!”
He looked me dead in the eyes and said,” as a guy! ”
Life treats you different, as if feelings aren’t a part of who you are
The same scale that weighs your worthiness will never allow you to go that far
Far from social norms and the expectations that crush your soul
The same notion that defines hope, drills in you a gaping hole
Men don’t cry, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hurt inside
The way, we have to be strong and consistent to not be cast aside
You see, life is harsher on us men who feel too much inside
As if god somehow felt the need to make it harder for us to hide
But dad never cried, never shed a tear even in his darkest times
He always laughed and smiled, even when he forgot his lines
Even when he was gasping and flying away, he looked somehow serene
The same man who taught me what does it to be strong mean
The day he was no longer, I understood what he really meant
Everyone looked at my brother and expected him to never bend
To not be weak and to carry on the legacy
To not shed a tear and resign himself to his wretched destiny
The same child, who came to this world wailing
The soul I swore to protect, but, God! Am I failing?
I took him by the hand and looked at the depth of his soul
Cry dammit! Don’t let them over your soul have control
Don’t let them sharpen your edges and mold you the way they want
Don’t sell away your heart and live the rest of your life weary and spent
I promise, I'll make you a world if they don’t let you in
A place for you to live and never have to shed your skin
I vow to you, I'll be your safe space to come back to
So let yourself go and ignore the evils they are trying to spew
A flicker of hope shone in the crystals that looked me dead in the eye
A watery flow pushed from beneath, paving the way to his silent cry
You see, dad, men do cry!
They weep and wail, and they don’t even have to try
For we both feel the same wretchedness eating us from inside
The day that you passed, was the day the first man in our family cried