HE/HIM
Closing
"Masculinity"
He’s told he must “wear
shirts, shoes, pants, and suits”
“Don’t be concerned with
makeup, jewels, nor
effeminacy”
Masculinity
who says it is so?
A broken construct
from old traditions
that are left behind.
Are they so fragile
that they can’t be kind
to those that differ
and dare to be seen?
Sticks and stones can break
his bones, but the words
will not leave a scratch.
Put on your earrings
and your high heeled boots,
in the face of those
who try to pierce you.
Trying to please others
is like walking on glass:
Creep around one shard
and get stabbed by the other.
Shatter the walls of
what once confined you;
and be showered in
the pieces, whose wake
you’ll strut through in all
of your brilliance.
He’ll look good with some
sparkle too, because
sand has nothing on
a diamond like him.
Syllabic poem by Will Chapman.
Published in the 2022 edition of Reservoir High School's
award-winning literary magazine, "The Swamp".
How "He/Him" came to be
