Virile salty drops fall on the hard gym floor,
but the stud’s not crying
among the 20 kilo plates and olympic bars:
Andrew's sweating out one handed press-ups.
He might pull the wool over
his bright clear blue red-blooded eyes,
but this hunk’s core knows – he's lying.
Thoughts on toxic masculinity and male vulnerability.
Andrew is pretending that he is a hard man who doesn't cry but in reality the salty drops are tears not sweat, hence Andrew's he-man exterior is a lie.
Line 4 - Andrew's is a contraction of "Andrew is" and not the genitive case.
Line 6 Red-blooded is both the redness of his eyes (because he is crying) and a play on red-blooded as in macho.
The ambiguity of the poem reflects the disconnect between Andrew's inner feelings and external lifestyle.