Black Men Don't Cry

Suck it up!
Be a man!
Dont let the world see what's really going on inside
Give a nod here, a smile there...
Do the back pounding, fists bumping 'hey man wassup how's it hanging' greeting
everyone's accustomed to;
blinded by.
Not allowed to see the reality that IS you

Shake it off
Close your mind
its not that important after all

Me?
Show emotion?
Say what's on my mind??
You must be crazy!
Aint no way that's gonna happen!
We don't talk...we observe
we don't share...we analyze
We don't attach....we de-tach

Feelings??
What feelings??
Feelings are for the weak and insignificant
For the saps who believe in a happy ever after and silver linings behind every cloud
Feelings belong to daydreamers and well wishers; believers in love and of love
When reality bites them in the ass they fall to their knees and cry 'why me Lord'
Feelings betray you,
Shame you,
Subdue you.

Suck it up!
Shake it off!
There is no time or place for 'emotion' and 'feelings' and 'sharing'
I'm a man!
I take care of what needs taking caring of; I take care of what's mine
Nothing more...nothing less.
I handle my business!

what did you say?
I'm wrong to think this way?
To live this way...be this way?
Heck no!
This is who I am; who I was made to be
the expectations of a generation of black men
Who
Do
Not
Cry

by: Tarin Glenn-Brown
January 26, 2011 (c)