Yo Masculinity So Fragile

it would starve in a house made of kitchens
(it seems to only knows how to make meals of women’s bodies),

it thinks Mr. Clean is a real live person,

it is still telling people the air is suddenly ‘dusty’ every time
you watch Set It Off instead of just admitting that shit is sad and made you cry.

Yo masculinity so fragile,

it thinks saying you do something like a girl is an insult,

thinks getting receiving a compliment from a man makes him
or you gay,

so fragile,
it thinks you need to be a dick
and have one
in order to be a man.

Yo masculinity so fragile,

that when a woman tells you
‘no’
you hear
‘try harder’,
but when she tells you she has a man,
you learn to recognize restraint,

so fragile,
it thinks gift wrapping catcalls with compliments
means women should receive them like gifts,
so fragile,
it become a grinch or a gun if they don’t.

Yo masculinity so fragile,

it would shatter under the weight of the truth…
that it’s not helping anyone,
especially yourself,

so fragile,
that if it shatters, it’ll still expect a woman
to clean it up off the floor.

Yo masculinity so fragile,
that it can’t possibly be all your fault,

so fragile
we must deal with the fact
that this world,

it makes men hard
because it is less complicated
than allowing them to be human.

Yo masculinity is so fragile
that if it shatters
(and if you are lucky it will eventually shatter)

it will die a heavy thing,
having consumed so much
of your being.

… but on that day,
I look forward
to finally meeting you.