To Be A Man

A man is always chiseled in his own, unique ways,

He is never the same man as another man--no way man!

He maintains a clean and level beard,

or reveals the naked curves of his face with a shave.

He wakes up early to lead a day of decency,

or he sleeps-in and dreams of decency,

either way, a man is decent and true.

A man doesn’t shut down when life unplugs,

he has a generator that’s powered by

another generator, and that’s called heart.

He always has heart, always, always has heart.

A man watches the sunrise a few times,

sees the work of nature in its infant state;

Watches dawn grow into noon, and day age to midnight.

A man speaks when spoken to—a man is honest.

He knows when to bite his tongue.

A man comes home on time; he is punctual.

He greets his family, (or if he has none, greets his home)

with integrity and as the face of integrity.

A man reads Hemingway and drinks scotch,

eats steak with chest hair exposed in a tropical twilight.

He can identify an El Greco, knows

the difference between nihilism and existentialism,

has studied Plato, and can recite Walt Whitman.

A man can budget his time and assets,

can greet people with a smile and shake hands

with the webs connecting between the index finger and thumb

in a colossal grip.

A man can be straight, gay, bisexual, or transsexual—

whichever his beating heart desires.

He can sit in silence with his thoughts when he needs to,

and listen to classical music to calm his nerves.

A man can cry in the company of loved ones;

he is never ashamed to show a range of emotion.

A man can pitch a tent, build a fire, and sing into the moon.

He can fall asleep under the stars, and breath cold air.

A man can acknowledge the logic in caution

but doesn’t always listen when he charges into the heart of the wild.

A man calls his mother at midnight on Mother’s Day,

and goes to basketball games with his father.

A man remembers he was once a boy,

remembers every mistake he made in his youth and

treats those mishaps as instruments of knowledge.

A man can admit when he is wrong,

and he is humble when he is right.

A man is stubborn about injury; ignores physical pain.

He overcomes adversity quietly, then tips his hat

when he finally silences all of the questioning.

A man knows how to use a basic tool set, can fix a leak in the sink,

he can build his little girl’s swing set, or his boy’s tree house.

A man has a pallet for sardela and caviar; can operate a stick shift,

can read a map of New York City; a man will try, try, and try again.

A man is allowed to fail; he swallows his pride in success,

and  can admit when he needs assistance.

A man respects the fact he was made by a woman—

shaped, developed, fed, and nurtured in her womb.

A man respects a woman for what she creates,

he adores what she can become.

But a man cannot do or be all of these things in one lifetime,

and he recognizes that. He tries everyday to be honest,

because that’s what being a man returns to—honesty.

A man—a good man—is honest.