Exit Light

A short poem inspired by the recent discussions regarding toxic masculinity

There lies at the end of this tunnel
A shimmering, yet shaking
Light ever wavering

The light turns off
With a billion others
Yet it never forgets

It doesn't understand,
but it always remembers
The apprehensive chill

The conductor, the milkman,
the barrister, the conman,
the chemist, and all their finest friends

Find the light repugnant
Find the light a nuisance
They douse the light quickly

And in the beginning, this proves strenuous
Dousing and drowning, battering and bruising
Why, the milkman nearly ruined his belt the last time!

With time the light learns its place
In the dark, never showing its face

They beat the light out of me, and in time
I saw that light was never really mine

If the light should emerge
Without thinking, without blinking
We remember

This is not me, as you look at the scared eyes in the mirror
I am a man, never am I allowed to shed a tear