A Male Predicament
By Peter Davison
Trusting in something that's
rarely been done.
I am a man.
Giving to the fullness of that
is real, for me.
I am a man.
But not allowed
by the rules of privilege and control
to explore emotion.
I am a man
Captivated by convention
I squat in Pandora's box,
fear isolating buddies,
while she plays out her visions
with her empowered sisters.
Are we too tight into the illusion of
snips and snails and puppy dog tails
that make good boys and dry eyes to pain?
I am a man
to begin with acceptance first
that ravishes fear by embracing
shame and power,
vulnerable grief,
loneliness and desire.
I am a man
painfully processing potential.
Who thought of such a thing?
Damn Pandora's cubicle containment
device of dubious restrictive capacity.
It hurts,
I feel,
I've begun...
To be a man!
