We are all strays
Searching for a home
In the secret places
Of each other.

As I use this conditioner on my hair
I think,
Do I need hair this fair.
As a man, should I care?

      But it turns so soft and silky!
      Just feel it, touch it,
      So smooth and wispy!

Shush now voice, I tell you,
I do not care for this fair hair!
I do not need fair hair with flare!

      Don't you like the way it smells?
      So clean and fruity,
      Smelling fresh as sleeping beauty!

Enough! I do not need fair hair
Or hair with flare
Or hair that glares
So man up!

And rub some dirt in there!

Now look at this face
       Do you remember this smile?
           I wore it for you.

Dear you,
There is something nobody ever told me
That I think
A lot of people need to hear.
It's okay to need things.
Your soul is not toxic.
Your craving for love
Is not freakish
Or wrong
Or shameful.
Your loneliness
Does not make you pathetic.
Seeking help
Or advice
Or comfort
Does not make you weak.
Loving someone who doesn't love you
Doesn't make you a fool.
Your best
Is good enough.
You don't have to try
To need less.
This world
Is not
A church
And you
Are not Christ-
You don't need to sacrifice
For the rest of them.
And if
You are starving for connection
Nobody should ever make you ashamed of that.
People
Will leave you
People
Will be angry at you
For the staggering depth of your need.
But people
Are not always right
When they tell you
You are wrong.
You are not wrong.
You are not a freak.
You are not an abomination.
You are not needy.
You are not foolish.
You are not weak.
You are not pathetic.
You are not
Crazy.
You are just
Human
And humans need
And you don't have to ask permission
To admit you have feelings.
I wish someone had told me that
A long time ago.

Once a year
I lift up these weights
and carry them with me

Unlike others
who carry them everyday
I can only lift them on this day

And yet,
Even in my normal life
I can still see them there, in the corner

These weighs
remind me of war
and the pain that comes with it