DIMINISHED

he would go hungry
before he let us want

that's what i saw
and what i took for truth
and what my soul yearned to follow --
not blind
nor brutish
nor toxic
but righteous,
his love proved in a thousand ways
and none of them meant
to diminish
but to cherish

and work, work, work
and fix
and do
and hold (too) tight
and hold the door
and take the bullet
and tolerate
and try
so fuckin' hard
to carry the load
without letting on about
the goddamned weary strain of it

and all that
run down now
and mocked
and portrayed as arrogant
or stupid
or angry
and deeply, ruthlessly selfish
and good men don't know
how or even what to be

so, goddamn, brother,
just be free