Rapprochement, a series (2/5): Emotional, ‘Boys Don’t Cry’

This piece is dedicated to men of my family,
late and living,
for whom the saying ‘Men don’t cry,’
and all that this encompasses
was a truism of manhood
a sign of strength as opposed to weakness
self-sufficiency and often also, in tone and context,
superior to the “Alternative”–
Woman

This piece is also dedicated to women, the “Alternative”, like me
who looked up or over to those beloved men
for face-the-world advice
and came to idolize what strength looks like
in that peculiarity of “Men don’t cry.”
and somewhere, early-on perhaps, along the way,
decided
“Women shouldn’t either.”

This piece is dedicated to all those who broke free of the lie
Life hurts sometimes
We need each other

to pick each other up
and also to feel.

Boys Don’t Cry, a short story
May 2011
(2446 words, 9 minutes)

Rapprochement (1/5): Material

Copyright © 2018 A.M. Wilsonne