When Men Were Pretend Men

It takes a real man
to go outside the lines
of ancient gender defined
boundaries
and shake up
the real man stereotype
that growling pseudo macho

"real men" types growl at

They snicker
and roll their squinty manly eyes
as the role rebels they despise
tweak at their sexual insecurities

Mocking the role usurpers

for the crime of displaying human sensitivity
that traditional men keep buried

Deep down the raging dinosaurs know
the testosterone walls they hide behind
have always been lonely prisons

and the real men
chipping away at these walls
eventually
will liberate us all