On Her Side

I said that you are a good person, sacred for being a woman..
you told me I 'm not a man

I told you I love women
you said I only want to use them

So I asked: "use them for what?"
and that's when you said that I want to use them for a shoulder to cry on

I cried over your abortion, I cried over that beating by "him," and I wept bitterly over your miscarriage
all you could do was call me a "whimp"

I wondered  and I wondered, what can I do?  How can I stop this from happening to me?
One day a woman told me as she leaned on her "real man":
"this is the way it is Tom, and this is how it will always be"

I wondered and then I wondered some more, what is wrong with me?!?

eventually I realised that nothing is wrong with me... they just don't get it.

a man is a person who cares; not a person who takes and uses...
a man is person who does not hide his soul and does not play games
and does not crush his spirit or tighten up his body for "emotional control" and "strength"

a "real man" does not use women to make himself feel powerful

a "real man" cares and cries and feels

I ache for the day when a woman will
love me inspite of the pain in me and see me for what I am:
a man who is on her side 

- Thomas A. Vitale
26 April 2004

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