The Measure of a Man
What makes a man in times like these,
Where hearts grow cold and love must cease?
Where power’s praised and kindness mocked,
And silence chains the souls that talk?
They tell the boys, “Be fierce, be tough,
Don’t cry, don’t feel, don’t give enough.”
But who decreed that might is right?
That warmth should dim to prove one’s might?
The loudest voices sneer and scold,
Preach wealth and power and hands that hold
Not love, not grace, nor outstretched care,
But iron fists and vacant stares.
They call for conquest, greed, and war,
To take, to own, to claim much more.
They laugh at softness, scoff at peace,
And dare to call this strength’s release.
Yet I have seen the quiet hands
That lift, that mend, that understand.
I’ve seen the fathers hold their sons,
And teach them love is never done.
A man is not a voice that shouts,
Nor one who rules through fear and doubt.
A man is one who dares to feel,
Who knows that love is firm yet real.
He does not flinch at equal ground,
He does not seek to steal a crown.
He does not scorn a woman’s fight,
Nor fear her standing in the light.
A man is not the chains he wears,
The hollow boasts, the vacant stares.
He does not build on others’ pain,
For strength that harms is strength in vain.
So when they preach a harsher creed,
Demand you starve your soul to feed,
Remember that the strongest stand
With open heart, with open hand.
And should the world still scoff and sneer,
Still call for wrath, still trade in fear,
Know this: true power is to heal,
To lift, to love — to teach, to feel.
Roger Chao is a Melbourne-based writer who is passionate about social justice. You can follow him on Twitter @rogerchao_aus.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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