[Poem-a-Week] Maskuline Task Force: Prologue by Andrew Zaragoza

oh hi,
you answered.
well lets get straight to it.
do you have time to talk about
masculinity?

you see,
i'm on a mission to find the
divine self in me
beyond the programming and
maybe
you'd like to join in the search
of what strength and
vulnerability
can look like on two sides of
the same coin.

so when it's flipped, one can't
tell
the difference from the other
and shocks my brothers
like the electric transient shift
in moving the emotional
mountains
that took years for me
and for you, maybe a couple
weeks.

talk about a forty day
penance
i can tell you that the male
box is a sentence
since aggression is cherished

on the battlefield
and the football field
and the soccer field
and the baseball field

and the wrestling rings
and the boxing rings
and the weddings rings
and the onion rings

and the la streets
and wait...

don't tell me that
man versus food
and booze
and the tube ain't a sport in
matrimony.

because when did we decide
that our pride takes priority
and stifles a women's voice
on her body and clothing
choice?

because in the land of the
free market and capitalistic
society,
ima need some time to take
off this mask, see,
it's been a while since i lost
the key.
do you still have time to talk?

and so i dont know,
i guess i call for a coalition
called the masculine task
force
where the catcalling,
name making,
shaming,
and blaming are
cast out the window
and what's left in the
playbook,
i can't say but i know this:

masculinity should feel like a
warm blanket
that i clothe myself in so when
i lay next to my partner in
arms
and she sees the ink on my
skin,
i want it to breathe protection.

because we ain't teaching our
boys to be boys,
we're teaching boys to be
human again.

and i know what's on the
underside of that bed.
the toxic monster that still
tries to pull me down into
wars
with bullet toys and big tanks
into someone else's home.
that's telling me this is worth
more
than what i can't even solve in
my own backyard;

clothing and giving a home for
a soul who’s homeless
and may have felt a little too
much aggression,
and the women in poverty
with them.

so if you or someone you
know
was a victim of the this
masculine phenomenon,
call me and let's put an end to
this next pandemic
with accountability,

especially for those struggling
with tomorrow to see
what life without the mask can
be.

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Andrew Joseph Zaragoza is a fellow Angeleno born in Lakewood, CA and graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills and founder of OpenHeart Spoken Word. His work can be found via two internationally published collections titled XI: A Collection of Poetry on Being Human and Second Chances in the Fall: An Account of Hope. Notable collaborations include Simon and Schuster's imprint Archway Publishing, Sims Library of Poetry, Field Trip Health, The Walt Disney Company, and local organizers in the Los Angeles, Orange County, and Long Beach regions.

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