They said, “Come on boy, don’t feel that much.”
So he learned to flinch away from touch.
He would laugh sometimes, just to blend in,
Though most days, he wore his fear like skin.
He walked with his head held kind of high,
Not proud, just used to getting by.
No one asked where his silence led,
They only saw how straight he stood instead.
“Be tough”, they said, “don’t break. Don’t show.”
But toughness taught him not to grow.
He bled in silence, suffered and was worn,
From the battle fought since he was born.
A boy not built of steel or stone,
Just flesh and heart and skin and bone.
Still walking through a world of blind,
A boy, the world forgot, was kind.
June, 2025
