Where Are The Men?

Written during the worst fortnight I've ever experienced.

Where are the men?

The men with the broken macho button
The men who wear the emotional shirtsleeves

Where are the men who comprehend?
Where are the men who understand?

Who comprehend the pain
Who understand the loss

Where are these enlightened souls?

Where are the men who carry on with their lives
despite the loss of an embryonic life?

Where are the men who have rock-solid faith
even though they are privy to the occurrence
be it multiple times or only once?

Where are the men who may boldly question
the existence of a loving God, but accept the
silence with the stoicism of a marble statue?

Where are these men?

If I knew, I wouldn’t feel like a lone gunman.

The lone gunmen predicted the fall of the
Manhattan Gemini at least six months before
on a canned television program

And I had the nagging suspicion on my side,
because my faith in the dogma of empiricism
has yet to betray me

And the dogma of empiricism has smashed
the axiom of common sense multiple times

So much for the third time being the charm

Who knows if this event really was the third time?

Family and friends tell me that I should have hope,
but all I know is that Hope is a small town in
North Dakota that lost one of it’s own shining stars
not so long ago

Hope is a fucked-up place like any other
in this fucked-up world, and so are all the
other towns on the rail route between
Casselton and Tolna

Again I ask, where are the men?

Where are these stoic individuals who
don’t speak about their pain, speak about
their emotion as being a non-producer?

Being a November Zero in other words,
but still having the faith to press on
like St. Paul during the Roman reign

I wish I had their strong convictions
I wish I had their steel constitutions
I wish I was one of them

But I am not.

And why not?

Because it won’t happen to me

Author's Note

I live in the town at the very top of the map.

Reviews

[knowman]

I'm not sure what kind of thought this poem brought on I did like it but for the life of me I don't know why.

[Judy Ponceby]

You give written life to your raw emotional pain and questing. Powerful, deep, insightful writing. I hope others who need to know they aren't alone read this and understand that there are those who completely understand their pain. I wish you and yours peace.

[Chelsea]

i like this poem a lot! beautifully written and i like how you repeat where are the men? anyway, very powerful!

[Tony]

I am myopic as hell.... is that ND?
if so, I hate that place. Cold as hell. And I did twentytwo days in jail in Drayton, and the food was crap...lol..jus kidding.
I did have some trouble there, but I also learned all about the Sugarbeet harvest.
And partying with local locos beneath big bridges.
anyway,

Well Kenneth... this poem is very scattered.
But it is also very good.
I get the feeling that the author is coming to grips with very unreal seeming realities within his spere of influence.
And I suppose, thought I could be wrong, that an urgency is being felt within in his heart, and thus,
We have poetry.

Those men you refer too..
I call them sheep in wolves clothing, or meat with eyes.
They can be found struggling from sea to shining sea.
Insane is what they are, attempting to compete in a game that has predetermined winners.
Unaware, no matter how often I tell them, that it is irrational to go to walmart and put on a leather jacket.
Unless you have a large motorcycle.

This poem, though needing some smoothing, is trying to connect this PatheticMale with much larger global issues.
Politics, Religion, HumanRights.

I do the same thing myself, with varying levels of approval and/or admiration.


I ultimately got the feeling that this Geek, is pretty determined to find Truth.
Welcome to the War.
It is on Consciousness... as it turns out, no?

[MaggieSummers]

powerful words... powerful poem. your emotion pours out in your writing... amazing write.

[Liza]

Men from history had their faults; we only read about their glory because the living tend to glorify those that are gone.

I adore men that can carry their balls every where without spreadiing carelessly their seeds to whims of passion but hone their strength for their future....this was a powerful write; masculine in its own right.

[Ruth]

Brilliant reflection love! Powerfully so, where indeed? Nothing/no-one holds values or morals of what they should anymore...they are replaced by robotic slaves who are more interested what happens in Coronation Street than reality! Great work xx

[Coyote Poetry]

I will visit your state next year. I have Ojibwa land in my name in Upper Michigan . A square mile of virgin land never touched by man. (Thinning out the trees.) I want to see what is left of a great people and see the great Thunder bay again. Many men have convictions. The problem most are common men who can do little but teach their children to respect people and nature. Don't allow the world to take you down. Better to fly and scream with eagles then died like cattle lined up for the slaughterhouse. Thank you for the excellent poem.
Coyote

[joshua deathdealer]

I absolutely agree. Where are the men of fathers caliber? Men that are assertive instead of aggressive. Men that care about the well being of their families. Men that treat women with respect and honor. Men that guide their children spiritually and mentally. Men that would take up arms to defend their freedoms no matter the cost. Men of convictions and fortitude. I absolutely agree. Where are the men?