'Real Men Don'T Cry' Poem by David Mitchell

Whoever said 'real men don't cry'
Uttered the most damnable lie
Ever by human being spoken:
Who knows not what 'tis to be broken?

The man who said it was no man;
And there is no woman who can
Or ever could have spoken so
Be trivial as it may man's woe.

Take hence to whence he came the liar
Of demons born; let raging fire
And fury scald his gasping breath,
And let him hate his second death!

Let him endure the noxious smell
And endless, boundless pangs of hell;
And then observe his manly eyes –
See if he cries! see if he cries!

Behold the man! behold his tears!
What do we make of this man's jeers
Of every man who has a heart?
The devils tear his soul apart.

And every man who has a mind
And feelings, sometimes is inclin'd
To overflow with tears of sadness,
That drive him to the brink of madness.

But when into the Majesty
Of Three-In-One Infinity,
Each fearful soul shall come,
The too content shall sorrows see,
The sorrowful shall happy be,
And glad shall be the glum.

And will that man in hellfire weep,
So proud that tears did never creep
On his courageous cheek?
And if hell hurt the courage-wearer,
Will he then understand that there are
Men whom he would call weak?


Behold! the man whose wicked lies
Did nothing to prevent our eyes
From crying us to welcome sleep:
Behold him weep! behold him weep!

(Saturday,7th October,2006.)