BE A MAN, THEY SAY.



Be a man, they say.
All through the years,
At each turn in the road,
I've remembered.


Get on that train, they say
To basic training far away.
Don't shirk your duty,
Be a man.


Don't let him talk to you that way,
Clench you fist and enter the fray,
Don't turn away,
Be a man.


The winners been selected,
And it wasn't you,
But don't let rejection discourage,
Get right back up start all over again,
Be a man.


I hate to tell you this,
But the disease will win in the end,
Show us all how courageous you can be,
Be a man.


I've remembered,
But would I be less a man,
If only I could cry?




Jim Kittelberger 2001.