He Tried To Make Me A Man Poem by John W. McEwers

When you shake hands with another man,
you push the webbing between your thumb
and pointer finger into theirs, firmly -
- so said Robert.

When you speak to a pretty girl,
you look into her eyes and not at her mouth,
even though her mouth is doing the talking -
- as said by Robert.

When you throw a punch,
you aim for a point beyond where your target is
in order to benefit from momentum -
- according to Robert.

And you don't cry,
even when you're alone - if you're a man,
and Robert almost made me a man,
but I still cried when they covered him with dirt.