when i ask them if they’re okay
why is their first response always “yes”
as if they don’t throw out their untouched plate of food
every night when their mother isn’t looking
as if their heartstrings aren’t dragging them back into bed
every time they gain a glint of motivation to get up
as if they don’t stare into the ceiling looking for something that’s more
more than just the daunting void staring back at them
our society
our households taught us to be this way
us
taught that our feelings are weapons against ourselves
“to be vulnerable is to be weak”
they say
as the fear of being weak has been eating us up
our whole lives
eating him up
the same emotionally distant fathers
are those same little boys who cried
when they had a bad day at school
but were robbed of their safety of expression
as soon as they walked through the house’s front door
scolded by mothers who reminded them to man up
but to be man
mankind
is to feel
our minds were clean slates
when we were new to this world
despite all the scratches and fractures to it we have now
we have a chance at ensuring that new clean slates feel.
openly and wholeheartedly
that's how the seeds of our society will flourish