Boys dropped out of school
Gloom broadcast on their faces
Old exuberance long gone
Weathered and worn

Stubbing cigarettes
Under ill-fitting shoes
Ducking from another punch
Milling about
Fists swung in anger

Another blow meticulously swayed
Newsboys dressed in flatcaps
& plaid
Another fight from hanging on
Around street corners too late

Suited up going to fathers funerals
Sunglasses to hide eyes ablaze
With fury and sadness
Cigarette butts stubbed out
Along with their secrets

And they’ll tell ‘em
That this is how men are made

(C) 2016 March

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