A man does not become a man
until he unlocks himself
from the grasps of fear
and rise above the barb wired barricades
of challenge.

A man does not hold his tears
as prisoners of captivity,
for it is his tears
that becomes the fuel
to nurture his growth and healing.

A man does not use life
as an escape
from his own failures
but conquers his fate
as a weapon towards success.

And when blood has been shed
from his epidemic layer of confidence,
a man does not wilt down
upon bended knee and fade.

It is he who triumphs
against the army of ridicule
for in his beckoning he rises
from the dusts of defeat
and becomes a king amongst men.

© 2012

Tarringo T. Basile-Vaughan