To Be A Man

(Photo by Keem Ibarra)

By Thalia Skeene

Bottle up inside,
are the words he never said.
Behind his false smiles,
And the jokes he always tells.
Buried are his feelings,
the ones he tries to hide,
because deep down,
it’s all about his pride.

In the darkness of his room,
is where he tends to stay.
Hiding between four walls
pretending everything is okay.
But no one hears his whimpers,
nor the sobs that leave his lips,
because to be a man is difficult,
he cannot show those things.

Growing up was painful.
His father was no help.
“Talking is for women,
you’re a man inside this house.”
But pain is subjective,
No one can tell him how to feel.
Not his father, not his grandfather,
what he’s going through is real.

Men’s mental health is important,
His teacher says one day,
“Go talk to someone privately,
If you’re not doing okay.”
The encouragement was needed,
he was almost at his end.”
And with those simple words,
His teacher was a Godsend…

Want to view more pieces like this? Support our writers by joining our Patreon!

Thalia Skeene is a junior at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida. She began writing at the age of nine and developed such a love for it that along with a psychology degree, she is working towards an English minor.