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Up and coming poet Keith Ndlovu has penned a poem which seeks to tackle stereotypes and notions in which men are perceived as strong human characters without feelings.
The recently released poem is titled Men Don’t Cry.
Said Ndlovu: “Some men within my community are killing themselves because they can barely handle the blow of overwhelming pressure created by life. Healing also includes crying whereas the society somehow dictates that a man should always be strong and never cry and that they should be oblivious towards their sorrow and pain.”
Below is the poem, Men don’t cry?
Men don’t cry?
When our eyes leak with tears,
While our efforts are vomited out to the land of rejection,
And when death seems to be flirting with people we love,
While our hopes are left in despair,
Should we not cry?
Life feels like blown away grass during winter,
Our problems blow away our happiness leaving us in anguish.
While poverty continues to be a miscarriage of sin,
Should we not cry when we fail to fend for our families?
When bills york out of their shells living us restless and laced in agony,
When all we are told is to “remain strong”,
How can we be strong when life erodes our peace?
How do we speak out on abuse?
When the winds of justice never blow in our favour?
The graffiti in the societal expectations –
Which believes that men don’t cry,
Has become a lamp without light,
Yet crying does not mean weakness,
Because crying is a feeling and feelings can never be subdued by notions of human law.
Men do cry!
No man is an island,
Yet dropping tear balls which lead to an island is not a weakness but strength,
The skies always leak with tears of rainfall-
While leaving the world pristine and divine.
Crying leaves us with a gorge of beauty,
Because beautiful people are hurt and men are not an exception.
We shall never be reduced by our problems,
We will stand tall like an oak tree.
Men do cry. Chronicle
