The Essence of a Man

What is the essence of a man?
I often wonder in my poignantly curious mind

The essence of a man.
I ask my father
To dissolve in the world of duties
To work till you feel blisters in your feet
To serve your family

The essence of a man
I ask my momma
To be the one who provides she says
The one who protects
The one who loves

The essence of a man
I ask a boy
16 in years, he’s
Blue in his t-shirt and a pair of jeans
The essence of a man is to dream
To create, to innovate, to believe
The essence of a man I hear
Is to strive for greatness

The essence of a man
I ask his sister
To sew those eyes on your bra strap
To point out your bodily curves and rounds
The essence of a man she believes
Is to objectify, and sexualize

The essence of a man
I ask a soldier
To toil and bleed, to hunger and thirst
To fight for the right
And to love your mother

The essence of a man
I ask his mother
The essence of a man
Is to live and die for everybody and everything else
But yourself she says
To be brave as a wolf but to follow like a sheep

The essence of a man
Says a widower who’s town just bombed
By the said soldier
The essence of a man is
To seek answers in red
To project strength in violence
Because they’re too fragile to talk
The essence of a man is cowardice

The essence of a man
He who dressed in hard pressed suit says
Is to take control, and have faith, to take in charge, to lead

The essence of a man
He who has a hat in velvet
Is to hide a whole different world, lock it inside your chest
Suffer for as long as you last
The essence of a man is closetedness

The essence of a man
I ask a housewife sipping tea in her white porcelain cup
To tie the limbs of half of the population
To tie strings and play puppet for centuries
Then take delight in complaining for having to “feed”
The essence of a man is patriarchy

The essence of a man
Maybe her maid thinks a bit different
To labour with every last bone just as same
But to see beauty in her newly blackened eye
“Of Course she has to care for the house, the kids, she’s a woman!”
The essence of a man is still patriarchy, and misogyny

The whispers in the woods care to join in
The essence of a man they say
Is to drill till the last stone
To trim till the last green
To ravage, to reap, to sell, to steal
The essence of a man is exploitation
The essence of a man is capitalism
The essence of a man is climate change

The essence of a man I hear is so many things
The essence of a man I think
To see the world for what it is, then take a nap
His eyes, under blessed shade of ignorance
The essence of man is this and everything