Journey to Ixtlan

The “Real Man” phenomenon is fascinating to me. It seems to be a mixture of religious values, warrior culture, and a dash of decency. The most interesting aspect of the phenomenon is that it seems to be compiled and promoted by males of a specific racial / religious / cultural origin. With these origins, how does being a real man work in pragmatic practice? My poem “Be a Real Man” is a very preliminary look at the possible answers to this question.


Be a Real Man
Poem for Day 192 – 20150711

If I could be a real man,
not a boy nor a fake,
I wonder what I would be,
what higher state I would attain.
A set of contradictions,
finally tuned waiting to break.
More real than reality can stand,
standards laid at my feet of clay.

My humor and creativeness
comes from knowing perversity.
Sustained depravity is my insight,
wisdom of a world shared by all.
Would you want me to be more,
or less than what I truly am?
To be greater than myself,
losing those things you admire.

Forced to strip away half myself
to be the whole you clamor for.
Realness achieved at the costly price
of removing the human parts of me.
Here I stand, perhaps a man,
shaped by life's many trials.
A sum of parts earned with blood
greater than your epiphany.

Am I real, do I meet the goal,
or am I outside your reality?
Realness on the surface perhaps,
scratch and you'll find much more.
If I could be a real man,
I'd be less than what I am now.
If I could be a real man,
I'd loose my claim to humanity.

© 2015, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved.