how to kill a man before he dies

start and end

with woman

call him one

call his one

call one

to make you man enough

to deny another

of manliness

as she says

wow you’re strong

and you’ll say

no sweat babe

i don’t like no sissies

and she’ll say

oh that’s so powerful

makes me scared

and you’ll say

ain’t nothing to be scared of

with me

and she’ll say

later

after years

that she is scared of you

and you won’t feel like much

of a man

and when night fades in the inevitability

of a duller tomorrow

like an attempt at reigniting

a match

already burnt to ash

you hear her calling

some guy

softly

*

it will take a few years

for me to realize

that it was all right

in front of me the whole time

and maybe by then

i will only have a few years left

and i’ll be on my back

and nothing will be alright

though everything will

be taken by then