I see the pain in his eyes raw from
years of ill-treatment, he’s hiding behind
the cigarette-smoking and heavy-drinking
I see the tears that will never flow
because he’s a man and they do not cry,
so he holds it all in because he’s doing
what others expected of him
—to be a man who doesn’t show emotions—
but he’s desperately seeking approval
to relieve the discomfort. Yet, he won’t
shed a tear on his terms, not even one drop.