a man’s world

          
side [A] be a man          
         
stock standard virulent beefcake          
uncouth          
king pawn wired for violence          
through war he yields peace          
         
look back across the mountain pass          
a forged foreign landscape          
i barely recognise my [broken] self          
         
she thinks the mechanics are simple          
loving him can not simply be          
         
hearts are tempered and minds honed          
         
he is unearthed          
transformed          
unhinged and hung          
he is dead buried and reborn          
         
threefold repetition          
         
unearthed          
transformed          
adrift and anchored          
         
he is stagnant          
he is crucified          
he is dead          
         
         
side [B] man up          
         
this is not an apathetic command          
not a toxic war cry          
this is trajectory          
         
a red beacon ignites on lupiter          
shatters silence from space          
a call to arms          
wrapped tight around my man pup          
can feel everything raw and human          
         
tears bleed through my shirt to kiss skin          
my lips draw words against his cheek          
nods once          
he is worried about school          
nods twice          
feels a bit better when he gets there          
         
blood truths cut and his hero unravels          
         
i am worried about work          
rather keep safe with my wolf pack          
but i gotta rise every morning          
front whatever is coming my way          
         
the world sometimes blesses me with flowers          
and other days i get pelted with bricks          
         
taps temple tremors          
[trigger ancient murmurs from a soldier]          
thoughts of coming home transcend          
muscle threads and delicate bone    
         
no man can survive this life alone