he is taught to silence ache
to hide the bruises inside him
as if strength looks like quiet fire
but even the hardest stone cracks
it is not the weight he carries
but the softness to set it down
to say here is where i’ve failed
here is where i learned to rise
a man measures his life in echoes
the words he dared to unearth
the way his tenderness touched others
leaving them braver than before
there is no shame in weakness
only in refusing to see its power
for the broken pieces reveal sunlight
and a man is whole when he bends