When he was
5, he cried over a lost toy,
and they
told him stop, because boys should not be sad
When he was
10, he scratched up his knee,
and he
didn’t cry, because boys should handle the pain
When he was
13, his stepmother touched him on inappropriate places,
and he
didn’t tell anyone because he had learned that boys cannot be raped
When he was
16, he wished he was dead
and he cut
himself as a punishment for failing,
and he
cried himself to sleep, where no one could see him,
and he
couldn’t tell anyone, because boys aren’t supposed to hurt.