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 Apr 2019 nathan
Nat Lipstadt
Why Men Cry in the Bathroom

For so many reasons.
I will tell you the why.
I think you know,
Or perhaps, you think you know.

Men are always O.K.,
Even when not.

We expect the worse,
Accept the worse,
Nonetheless,
We are forever unprepared.

Wearily, we cry,
In the bathroom, in private,
Lest sighs slip by,
We be unmasked,
Early warring, strife signs warning.

Copious, tho we weep
Before the mirror confessor,
It is relief untethered,
Unbinding of the feet,
An uncounting
Of beaded rosaries,
Of freshly fallen hail stones,
Of night times terrors
By dawn's early edition's light,
and welcomed.

But look for the mute tear,
The eye-cornered drop,
*** tat, that never drops,
But never ceases formation and
Reforming, over and over again,
In a state of perpetuity of reconstitution,

The tippy tear of an iceberg revealing,
And I see you peeping, wondering,
What is beneath


Look for:
the torn worm-eaten edges of spirit,
thrift shop bought, extra worn,
grieving lines neath the eyes,
where the salt has evaporated,
discolored the skin.
worry lines,
under and above,
browed mapped, furrowed boundaries.
the laugh line saga,
where better days are stored,
recalled, as well as recanted,
publicly, privately.

Why just men?

I don't know,
Perhaps,
it is all I know.


Jan 6, 2013
your effusive and lengthy comments are each a poem in their own right.  

Tinkered with June 22, 2013
With a push from Bala,
A serial peeper, thank God!
 Apr 2019 nathan
R
Fatal
 Apr 2019 nathan
R
Hello little boy, grass-stained knees.
You'll grow up to be a queen,
Called only by the highest gendered words.

Hello little girl, boas and tea parties.
You'll grow up to be a ranger,
Warned not to act like a female.

Are you there, little boy?
Is it still you under the sorrow
Of looking back and seeing a stranger?

Are you there, little girl?
Can you still hear me
Under your cries for help?

Please don't despair.

No, I can't promise that
One day, you'll be you again.

Please don't go.

No, I can't tell you how
Many years you have left like this.

Goodbye little boy, cut up arms.

Goodbye little girl, scissors and band-aids.

You grew up to be a someone,
But you didn't know who.

Growing up is fatal.
 Apr 2019 nathan
adriana
i want you to ruin my life
and even though i know it's wrong
i want you to make it all right
 Mar 2019 nathan
Umi
Sealed Delight
 Mar 2019 nathan
Umi
The morning glow from my dreams was more than just a sunrise,
Roaring, scattering across the sky the rays of light cut through the darkness with my hopes and what I had wished for in the future,
Its brilliance, unmatched by anything ever seen before, breaking away all misery stored inside peoples hearts, burning their sadness to dust,
If just for a moment, this could have been heaven for all whom bear the love of light as it fills the atmosphere with its golden glow,
But this day never came for me, as my eyes slowly closed and accepted the wish to be left in the somber reality of the realm of the dead, my vision had long bid me farewell at this point, I was alone,
But even if my closed eyes seal me off from the delight one may experience everyday in this beautiful earth and all its blessings,
Feeling my skin warming up by the company of the sun when it greets us in the morning, full of passion cheer and determination,
I don't think I care about having neither wish granted or even being here in this loitering darkness with no light at the end of the tunnel,
Because the delight sealed in my heart always breaks free with just a little bit of sunlight.

~ Umi
 Mar 2019 nathan
N
" That's just me "

You’ll hear her say

" I am lesser than beautiful "
I refuse to believe that
I am of worth
What exactly am I?

A courageous soul who is unapologetically herself

Well, the truth is
I look in the mirror to only see
My reflections disappoint
No longer can I say that
My beauty radiates from within

now read from bottom to top
 Mar 2019 nathan
Oscar C
I'm sorry you never got to be a mother,
kids running around you being a bother.
I’m sorry you never got to grow up and get married,
to a man who would cherish you till you were buried.
I’m sorry you lost all your friends,
Maybe someday they will make amends.
I’m sorry you lived hating your body,
mind going crazy, and eyes red and ******.
I’m sorry for all the things you could have been,
cut short by me at just thirteen.

But I’m not sorry for living,
I had to get free screaming and kicking.
I’m not sorry for letting your soul go,
like a little kid with his dead goldfish in the toilet flow.
I’m not sorry for ripping the facade of you off,
I’m glad our personalities aren’t too far-off.
I’m not sorry for being true to myself,
to that miserable girl, a sweet farewell.
Though no one knows you truly died,
the grief of you lies within me classified.
 Mar 2019 nathan
D Baby Bey
Revolver
 Mar 2019 nathan
D Baby Bey
She, her,
Triggering a cascade
Of suicidal thoughts.
I am not enough.
 Mar 2019 nathan
Samantha Nguyen
he was running.
running away from the pain.
running away from his fears.
running away from the thoughts.
running away from his feelings.
or just running away from me.

—you know you can do it
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