I See You

I am who I am

            You say

I can’t, won’t, don’t know how to change

            You say

I am hard

I am strong

I am somebody

            You say

But I see through you

little one

Sitting there on the dirty

orange carpet with no milk

In the fridge

Tears running down your face

Terror in your eyes

Blood in your mouth

I see you

Baby child with no food

Trying to fit in

Without

A mother or father to provide

Food, love, or

A chance to make it

A chance to survive

I see you

Dreaming about becoming

Somebody special

Becoming a man

Becoming the hero

Becoming different than

The expectation, the rule

What they think you should be

I see you, little boy

With your

Fear of being hit

Fear of being left behind

Fear of fear itself, that unmanly

Emotion that you can’t feel no matter

How much you feel it.

Fear, the shame of feeling

The shame that men can’t feel

Can’t trust, can’t run from

I see you

Crying out for love

For something different

For a future

I see you

I acknowledge you

I care about you

I see you

Not as you see yourself

But I see you…I see you

As the someone you will be