How men can be soft. (What We Were Promised as Men, Part II)

We were promised we could cry

and be safe within the embrace

of hard, cold metal.

We were promised we could either 

stuff our feelings

or stuff a fist in our mouths.

We were promised that we could escape

into a digital world, where we don’t have 

to feel.

We were told we could solve all the problems

with violence, and we were also told 

to remain stoic and loving

when others act out irrationally.

We were promised expansion, self-

sacrifice, and being disposable,

and we were told to take it.

In the context of this despair,

you ask me what is 

the value of a loving relationship?

The answer is forgiveness

of the pain within ourselves

that we don't share with the world.