The men i know

just a story of my life

I grew up seeing females
the male faces I saw were hazy memories
before I go beating around the bushes
I could share one or two about the men I know

The first man I knew was my father
kind enough to lend me his genes but not willing to nurture
he left home when I was 8 years old
the hope upon which my childhood was built on was gone
leaving my mother and I all alone

The men I came to know later were patriarchal
a woman to them was just but a doll
to play,hold and dispose at pleasure
to them our consent is nothing to put to account
that's why despite my young age he didn't think twice before the hideous act

The men I know are more of brawn than brain
put their ego before affection
their own interest before family
I thought I had met a different one who cared
shock on me when he left me shattered
no different from my cousin who used me as a test monkey back in kindergarten

I wonder if there are any different forms of these dehumanizing species
they don't mind the trauma and sorrows they leave behind
maybe there is a father out there taking responsibility for his family
or a relative taking care of his younger sibling
maybe there is a man I don't know of with a heart
who has a vision,not just simple lines and rhymes but till then,
I will just let you ponder of the men I know

Reviews

[light and ashes]

I personally feel that there are a lot less of these men out there today then there used to be, but there are still far too many.
This is really good. You really have a lot of talent.

[Coyote Poetry]

With age and time. We shall learn. Good people and bad people. Know the person before giving your heart away. Love isn't ownership. It should be concern, safe place and kindness. I lived in 11 foster homes and it taught me. To be a good father. Same house, same schools and now I have four grandchildren. I liked the honest tone of your poem. I believe, you need to find people who make you laugh, people, who make you hopeful. They are out there. Thank you for sharing your powerful words and thoughts.
Coyote

[barleygirl]

This is a horrific vignette & I hope it's not autobiographical, but if it is, I'm sorry life has been so harsh. Life is harsh for many young females -- one in four in the USA. I love how you don't castigate men en masse, but rather, you allow that these are only the ones you've known. For some reason, when we grow up around men who are users, we tend to attract users as if there were a neon sign above our heads. After knowing an unbelievably long string of users, it's unfathomable that there could be some good ones out there, which is what you try to allow toward the end of your poem, but it's stated so weak & unconvincingly, exactly how I would've put it myself. It's like . . . yeah, there must be some good ones, but all I see are jerks!

In your poem, I love how you spill the gory details of an abused childhood without going all purple drama on us. In writing about my own childhood abuse, I've found readers can't handle too much detail becuz it's traumatizing to read & imagine how young kids have been harmed. Readers react to their own trauma in being exposed to such harsh realities (things many have never imagined) more than responding to my writing. The way you spill it in a stingy way, hardly any details, but the details you do share are so knife-like & vivid, it stabs the reader to bleed more of the possibilities into one's mind while reading along. This is stunning writing (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Robert Trakofler]

I went 30 years without dealing with these feelings dear Ice the fact that you are doing this now speaks volumes of your wonderful potential! Believe me you will find a soul worth loving one that will treasure you for what you are and not what they want you to be not as a decoration or a toy but as a soulful completion!

[ice_cubes]

someone say something after pondering on the men I know off