black cavities
outside the hospital 
empty corpses


compliance ...
cries for help 
getting louder 


burning flames 
outside the embassy 
a soldier protesting 


blood-stained gown
behind the window
a gasping doctor


ceasefire ...
a man in the rubble 
collecting body parts 

EVENING IN THE  MEADOWS

In this meadow full  of swampy land.
Adorned with mountains trees, grass, flowers and salubrious evening air.
The sky was looking so glorious  tinged with golden color 
It was a nice evening mesmerized with wild flowers. 

Meanwhile the moon appeared in  the sky with  million smiles.
The fringe sky looked glimmered with  moonshine.
Slowly the moonshine wrapped  the whole  ambiance. 
Every beings lighted and delighted with  the soft moonlight.

The tall trees of the meadows looked beautiful  and meditative. 
A rapt silence reigned in that realm of beauty. 
In the meantime the rustle of the leaves resonated the air. 
There  was whisper of enchanting fragrance  in the  air.

Then rose the crickets that remained hidden in the grass. 
They started  their  hymn in that  enchanting  glade.
Prevailed there a beauty and blissful  air.
Reverberated the meadows with the songs and whisper of night so fair.

Dr. Maheswar  Das
India


MORNING REVERIE OF THE WOODLAND 

Morning  descends with  million  smiles and blessings of eternity. 
The enormous all- pervading  sunshine sprinkles and makes the  entire ambiance colourful.  
The dew-sprawling-grass field looks glamourous and colorful.
The blade of grass dazzles carrying the dew drops in its breast.

The morning breeze enthralls all beings with  an amazing  touch of happiness. 
The chorus of bird-flocks in the  sky enlivens all beings with an infinite peace
The valley  looks  colorful  carrying the tall trees under the enchanting sky
The woodland whispers with glee carrying the enormous shades of  clouds.

The tall mountains of  the valley kiss the clouds with so much ecstasy in their eyes.
The buzzing of the bees and butterflies makes the land a paradisal look.
The narrow brook that flows in the valley carries  the songs of the cuckoo in an enchanting way.
The sky lark and other song birds spread their music spell unheard  of anything of the woods.

The morning  resonate with the  musing of nature seems meditative .
The rapt reverie of valley  is often broken by songs of  birds.

Dr. Maheswar Das
India



FROM DEATH TO IMMORTALITY

Like lightning, you are the spark in everything
The energy in all beings 
How futile is it to cling to matter always. 
How long we will remain as a slave of matter 
Not master
Never greedy to go up
Leaving the dense gross, ascending  to subtle 
How  much inert is our intellect 

Oh Lord  
Raise our consciousness
From darkness to enlightenment 
Make us free from the  bondage of gross matter
for a upward journey From mortality to immortality 
From darkness to light 
From matter to divine
For, immense resplendent 
light is beckoning from far beyond 

Dr.Maheswar  Das
India



Daffodils

Oh delightful golden daffodils
Oh messenger of spring
As I behold you for the first time in the garden green
I fell in love with your mesmerizing beauty
To me, you are a golden love flower of heaven
As l see you, my mind thinks of the spring season
I  look all  around to see the presence of spring
With your arrival, spring has already set in
With all its splendor and glee.

Under the radiant purple sunshine
I  see you in the meadows
You are dancing and swinging in the zephyr
Your fragrance lifted me to the realm of heavenly joy and cheer
Heaven's beauty has nestled in your soft gaze.

How beautifully almighty has wrought you.
How beautiful is your whisper
How enchanting is your serenity and beauty that cheers all
How beautiful is your fragrance that attracts all poets  and viewers
In vale and meadows, your fragrance stirs the air.
Your presence makes the ambiance colorful

Dr. Maheswar Das
India



Dr. Maheswar Das
-------------------------------
He is a bilingual poet, translator, editor, and story writer. He writes in English and the Odia language.

He has been pursuing his creative writing for the last twenty years and has authored more than one thousand English poems. All of his poetical exposition centers around Nature, God, love, and relationships. Some of his poems have been translated into international languages. He has co-authored three English anthologies of poems with his two friends.  Besides he is the co-author of more than fifty English anthologies of poems of many literary groups.

He holds the degree of M.A. in both Economics and History. He has accomplished a Ph.D.  degree in sociology from Utkal University. He also holds a law degree from M.S. Law College, Cuttack. He hails from Mallipur in the district of Cuttack, Odisha, India.

His English poems have been published in several national and international journals and Anthologies and have gained worldwide appreciation. He has received so many accolades from various national and international literary groups. He is a recipient of the Gold Medal award from the World Union of Poets, Rome.

LOW TIDE IN LAGUNA DE BAY

They embrace each other again, 

skin to skin, the islets of water spinach

and the surface of sticky mud 

after a week of dancing with the waves.  

The elusive seagull is close by,

roaming in the transient seashore

created by the low tide. 

The islands of water lilies aboard

in the breakwater, lonely 

for not receiving a warm welcome.

The sun is weaving, the twilight

says “Hello”, and in the distance

here comes the blinking of artificial stars

created by the city which deteriorated

that once deep Laguna de Bay.

I am there, standing on the pathway

that once part of the lake’s body,

jealous of the lake’s destruction.

I don’t know; perhaps it’s just me,

drowning in my deep thoughts

wanting to be visited

by low tide one day.

About the Author

John Lloyd C. Casoy is a public-school teacher in the Philippines. He has a bachelor’s degree in Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in Filipino. Currently, he is writing his thesis for his master’s degree in Master of Arts in Filipino – Literature at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Epistolary Poem #155 by Dr. Prasana Kumar Dalai of India and Kristy Raines of the United States of America

MAKE ME REALIZE! (Dr. Dalai) 

My heart belongs to you
I must go where you may lead
If love is red I am colour blind
I may not see the things
That you might see
And I may do just what I should do
I am looking through the eyes of love
And can see so much
The other eyes don't find
Still the sparkle in your eyes
Makes me realize one and all..



She sees the changes and speaks...

THROUGH EYES OF LOVE! (Kristy Raines) 

My heart will always belong to you
Wherever you walk, let me walk beside you
You could never see through my eyes .. But
I now see changes in you that weren't there before
I will always let you do things your way
But now I see more compassion and more empathy
You are seeing so much more through eyes of love 
They now sparkle when I catch you smiling 
And if I have helped you see some of these things
know that I was sent to you for that very purpose

You have shown me many things too.... <3



***
Epistolary poem #196 by Dr. Prasana Kumar Dalai of India and 
Kristy Raines of The United States of America


I BELONG TO YOU! (Kristy Raines) 

The pain and anguish won't be lost
But I 'll be yours all the days ahead 
I 've scattered myself around you
Love has bloomed in your fragrance 
I accept it whatever be consequences 
I belong to you and I do live in yours
I care not if the world stands against 
Call me faithless and I won't mind ever
I see my heaven burnt ere even built
Now where 'll this affliction of love reside
I crave for you no matter what you're .



She will always take her chances with him...


YOU BELONG TO ME! (Dr. Dalai) 

Though painful moments still remain
I will always be yours until time stops
You have made a nest in every part of my life
and unshakable love for you grew stronger 
I'll stand strong beside you regardless
of whatever comes against us in this world
You belong to me, and I to you no matter the cost
Faithless is something we will never be
for our heaven abides in the love that we share
I may not be the one you would have chosen in the past
but I am the one who denies you nothing 
and the one who loves you in every circumstance. 
Never will I ever crave anyone else's touch but yours
as your heart fits perfectly, like a glove, in mine



***
Kristy Raines is a poet, writer, and author, born in Oakland California, in the USA. Kristy is retired, married, and has two children and three granddaughters.

Kristy has five books waiting to be published. One anthology with  prominent poet from India, Dr. Prasana Kumar Dalai, will launch sometime in 2024 called, "I Cross my Heart from East to West", along with two fantasy books of her own called, "Rings, Things and Butterfly Wings" and "Princess and The Lion", an anthology of her poems in called, "The Passion Within Me, and her autobiography called,  "My Very Anomalous Life".  Kristy has received many literary awards for her unique style of writing. 

She is also an administrator for Chaucer's Square and Motivational Strips Literary Groups on Facebook.

Kristy enjoys music, making pottery, painting and raising awareness for the Rohingya people and friends who live in the refugee camps of Cox's Bazar and also raises awareness on human trafficking internationally.
****

Dr. Prasana Kumar Dalai (DOB 07/06/1973) is a passionate Indian Author-cum-poet while a tremendous lecturer of English by profession in the Ganjam district of Odisha. He is an accomplished source of inspiration for young generation of India. His free verse on Romantic and melancholic  poems is appreciated by everyone. He belongs to a small typical village, Nandiagada of Ganjam District, in the state of Odisha.

After schooling he studied intermediate and graduated In Kabisurjya Baladev vigyan Mahavidyalaya then earned a MA in English from Berhampur University PhD in language and literature and a D.litt from Colombian Poetic House in South America.

He promotes his specific writings around the world literature and trades with multiple stems that are related to current issues based on his observation and experiences that need urgent attention. He is an award winning writer who has achieved various laurels from the circle of writers worldwide. His free verse poems not only inspire young readers but also the ready of current time. His poetic goal right now is inspiring others, some of which are appreciated by laurels of India and across the world. Many of his poems have been translated in different Indian languages and earned global appreciation and lots of well wishes for his upcoming writings and success in the future.

He is an award winning poet and author of many best seller books. Recently he was awarded Rabindra nath Tagore and Gujarat Sahitya Academy for the year 2022 from Motivational Strips and a gold medal from the World Union of Poets, France & the Winner Of Rahim Karim's world literary prize in 2023.The government of Odisha's Higher Education Department appointed him as a president to the governing body of Padmashree Dr Ghanashyam Mishra Sanskrit Degree College and he is the Kabisurjyanagar.Winner of HYPERPOEM GUINNESS WORLD RECORD 2023. Recently he was awarded at the SABDA literary Festival at Assam.

 

Waiting for You in Your Dreams

If you feel lost and can't find me in the moment
have peace that I am in your heart as you are in mine  
Life is lonesome at times and I despair in those moments 
Then, in my dreams you appear with your sweet smile 
and I know I am not really alone
Never fear of me forsaking you 
As long as we are both dreaming of each other
how could those desires ever disappear?  
Yes, I feel empty during the day without you 
I miss your handsome face and your gentle spirit 
But when I fall asleep at night, your whole being surrounds me 
and I am comforted knowing that you are with me there 

So, when you lay down your head every night
know that you will find me waiting for you in your dreams... 



I Cross My Heart

Reach for the stars and there you'll find me
The ray from the moon will be your path
Reach for my hand and I will not let you fall
That is a promise I will never break
What is behind us is gone 
It is ahead where we'll find a peaceful place
Time is unpredictable, here only until it ends
Don't wait to tell me the things you never could
Once that moment is gone, it never returns
So don't keep them from me even if you leave
for in our sorrow will still be our moments of love
Beautiful memories will never be forgotten 
and my desires will never end for you
Standing far away, holding my heart in your hands,
is where our story ends for now 
But I will be back to search for you,  as I always do...

I cross my heart  ❤




No "Once Upon a Times" for Me

When you bow down in prayer
Ask Him, if you must live without me
If so, then what is the purpose of falling in love?
Though we have been separated for a time
The cries of our hearts are still as loud 
In this life, we survive much torture 
Some more than others 
This, I am used to
I don't cry tears anymore because I know 
how to live with endings more than beginnings
I know your heart still searches for me 
I can feel you when you look at my picture
I feel numb as I hear harsh words coming from you
Fortunately, I am used to unhappy endings in my life
No, "Once upon a times" for me
I close the door to my empty heart again for the last time

I can't go through this again.. 



Meet Kristy Raines.
A poet, writer, and author, born in Oakland, California, in the USA.
Kristy is retired, married, and has two children and three granddaughters.

She has five books waiting to be published. One anthology with a prominent Poet from India, Dr. Prasana Kumar, Dalai,  which will launch sometime in 2024 called, "I Cross my Heart from East to West", two fantasy books of her own called, "Rings, Things and Butterfly Wings" and "Princess and The Lion",  an anthology of her poems  called, "The Passion Within Me, and her autobiography called,  "My Very Anomalous Life".  Kristy has received many literary awards for her unique style of writing. 
She is also an Administrator for Chaucer's Square and Motivational Strips Literary Groups on Facebook.

Kristy enjoys music, making pottery, painting, and raising awareness for the Rohingya people and friends who live in the refugee camps of Cox's Bazar and also raises awareness on human trafficking internationally.

YOU'RE  MY SECRET!

In my words you come every moment 
They all bear your name of my breath
Do stop when I don't take your name
When you're annoyed to be honest 
Whenever it happens I am with you
Know not why I care for you so much
I find you and I do accept your entity
But just can't stay away from yours
You're so close for you're my secret 
Honestly I exist for your good self only
I can't think of staying away from you. 



MEMORIES OF YOUR TORMENT!

After crossing the road of our love
We met leaving far behind everything
How about walking to the no man's land
Hardly do we know eachother though
I feel as if I 've got my soulmate in you
Days go by ; nights don't seem to glide
Memories of yours do torment me a lot
The world has reduced me to this state 
Sitting and clutching my wounded past
Cause you're so close to me , you know
But I think you're out of my reach now .



NOTHING IN MY HAND!

I wish your presence when I am awake
Always in my dreams if I shut my eyes
I've recorded my world in your name
For the first time in my life you came
My eyes were wet while laughing
Nothing in my hand ; me empty &  lonely
Your entity you know essential to me
My palm lines aren't perfect though
It is clear you've accepted me as I am 
There was loneliness in my heart and
In your presence I feel heavenly bliss .



 I BELONG TO YOU!

The pain and anguish won't be lost
But I 'll be yours all the days ahead 
I 've scattered myself around you
Love has bloomed in your fragrance 
I accept it whatever be consequences 
I belong to you and I do live in yours
I care not if the world stands against 
Call me faithless and I won't mind ever
I see my heaven burnt ere even built
Now where 'll this affliction of love reside
I crave for you no matter what you're .



Biography of the Author

Dr. Prasana Kumar Dalai (DOB 07/06/1973) is a passionate Indian Author-cum-poet while a tremendous lecturer of English by profession in the Ganjam district of Odisha. He is an accomplished source of inspiration for young generation of India .His free verse on Romantic and melancholic  poems appreciated by everyone. He belongs to a small typical village, Nandiagada of Ganjam District, in the state of Odisha. 

After schooling he studied intermediate and Graduated In Kabisurjya Baladev vigyan Mahavidyalaya then earned a MA in English from Berhampur University PhD in language and literature and a D.litt from Colombian Poetic House in South America. He promotes his specific writings around the world literature and trades with multiple stems that are related to current issues based on his observation and experiences that needs urgent attention. He is an award winning writer who has achieved various laurels from the circle of writers worldwide.

His free verse poems not only inspires young readers but also the ready of current time. His poetic goal right now inspiring others, some of which are appreciated by laurels of India and across the world. Many of his poems been translated in different Indian languages and got global appreciation. Lots of well wishes for his upcoming writings and success in future.

He is an award winning poet author of many best seller books. Recently he is awarded Rabindra nath Tagore and Gujarat Sahitya Academy for the year 2022 from Motivational Strips. A gold medal from world union of poets France & winner Of Rahim Karims world literary prize 2023.The government of Odisha Higher Education Department appointed him as a president to Governing body of Padmashree Dr Ghanashyam Mishra Sanskrit Degree College, Kabisurjyanagar. Winner of "HYPERPOEM" GUNIESS WORLD RECORD 2023. Recently he was awarded from SABDA literary Festival at Assam.

“Black men struggle with masculinity so much. The idea that we must always be strong really presses us all down – it keeps us from growing.” –Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover

TOUGH: Exploring the Contentious Issue of Masculinity in Contemporary Society

[Originally published in Spare Change News & Fleury’s book You Are Enough: The Journey to Accepting Your Authentic Self]

As a child, my mother often painted my fingernails and sent me to school with glossy lips and lavishly perfumed hands. So began my confusing journey in discovering my gender identity and tipping along the jagged edges of sexual non-conformity.

Gender, as defined in Down to Earth Sociology, is “The social expectations attached to a person on account of that person’s sex. Sex is biological while gender is social.”

It has occurred to me that sexual and gender identity has been a hot-tempered issue most recently. People are quick to use labels like Gay, Straight, and Bisexual, Queer, Transgender, Feminine, Masculine, Macho, Tough Guy and Snowflake. Essentially, if you’re labeled gay then, you’re thought of as feminine and if considered straight, then you’re thought of as masculine. Well, if only it was all that simple.

Eli Coleman, in his book Integrated Identities for Gay Men and Lesbians states that “The dichotomous or trichotomous categories of sexual orientation (homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual) are a massive over simplification of our current understanding of sexual orientation.”

He goes on to day that “…conflicts within or between individuals over sexual orientation are quite commonly seen in many cases of individual psychopathology. These conflicts contribute to psychosexual dysfunctions, relational problems, career indecision …existential crisis and so forth.”

I remember the anxiety I experienced when I decided to become a male nurse; I worried about the implications of working in a field typically dominated by women. But as we know today, there are many male nurses whose sexual identities are exclusively heterosexual, even though they have taken on a mostly feminine role and ignored the gender (masculine or feminine) role expectations of society.

Coleman also quoted Alfred Kinsey—a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior and who invented the “Kinsey Scale” that rates levels of sexual preference from 1 (absolutely straight) to 6 (absolutely gay)—as saying “The world is not divided into sheep and goats. Not all are black nor all are white. The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects. The sooner we learn this concerning human sexual behavior, the sooner we shall reach a sounder understanding of the realities of sex.”

“Masculinity is what you believe it to be. I think masculinity and femininity is something that’s very old-fashioned. There’s a whole new generation of people who aren’t defined by their sex or race or who they like to sleep with.” Asserted gay Olympic Gold Medalist Johnny Weir and rightfully so…. In the grand scheme of things, I think that new age sexuality borders on being more contextual than it is biological.

There have been times when one can feel attracted to someone based on the situation of which they find themselves and the feelings that develop during that time; taking into consideration that they may still have more feelings of physical attract toward one sex over the other. Attraction can be more than just wanting to have intercourse with someone. It can be a combination of things that one deems valuable when it comes to finding the right mate. Things like karma, aura, emotional chemistry, intellectual and spiritual compatibility and socioeconomic components; all can affect attraction among individuals.

As a matter of fact, when I was growing up with my male cousin Bob in Haiti, definitive distinctions were made between us in relation to our disparate levels of gender role conformity.

Growing up, I was extremely close to my mother and had limited contact with my father being that he was a traveling businessman who lived in the second floor living quarters of his retail store in the middle of the city of Port-au-Prince. I was seen as the soft spoken, non-aggressive, overly sensitive and not terribly athletic mama’s boy. Whereas my cousin Bob was perceived to be the more tough talking, boisterous, athletic, and insensitive man’s man.

So they invented names to “label” us. I was “Temou” (Creole for soft core) and he was “Tedi” (Creole for hard core). Those labels began to shape how I perceived myself in the early stages of my psychological development. The idea that to be masculine you must be boisterous, not soft spoken is part of the pathology behind the idea of masculinity. “Violence has always been unfortunately embedded in masculinity, this alpha thing.” Said Captain America star Sebastian Stan.

Robert J. Stoller, M.D., in his book Presentations of Gender talks about the issue of femininity and masculinity in boys and girls within the context of family dynamics. He states that “One might hypothesize that if an excessively close mother child symbiosis and a distant and passive father produce extreme femininity in males, [then] too little symbiosis with the mother and too much symbiosis with the father would produce very masculine females.”

Which brings me to pose this question: Why are we as men so afraid to be associated with acting or thinking “like a girl”? What’s wrong with acting or thinking like a girl? We are all made of both male and female chromosomes, right? Sometimes the female chromosomes (a female karyotype is 46 XX) can be more dominant in males and the male chromosomes (a male karyotype is 46 XY) can be more dominant in females and vice versa.

Speaking from the point of view of someone who grew up with about five dominant women who exhibited both feminine and masculine characteristics in Haiti, I’ve grown to have immense respect for women and their abilities to communicate, empathize, endure and thrive over hardships. Why are those qualities recognized as a source of weakness if exhibited in males?

Women tend to allow themselves to be emotionally vulnerable, whereas men tend to perceive vulnerability as a weakness. But why is that? It seems to me that it takes courage and strength to be vulnerable whereas it takes fear and weakness to be invulnerable. In Haiti, women are objectified and are made to be subservient to men.

So the strong women I grew up with, had to mask their strengths or what was perceived to be masculine traits in order to appease the men, or risked being labeled a lesbian and lose their breadwinner. As for me, at times I had to act like the typically stoic masculine male when I really felt like sobbing uncontrollably, in order to avoid being labeled a sissy.

In The Homosexualities: Reality, Fantasy, and the Arts, Shirley Panken, Ph.D. writes “In Virginia Woolf’s celebrated essay ‘A Room of One’s Own’, Woolf …[discredits] the usual definition of masculinity and femininity, and synchronizes the two into an androgynous (genderless) vision.” She goes on to say that in Wolf’s other work Orlando, she “depicts Orlando’s profound confusion about the diversity of his/her different selves.” Woolf writes that the indecision “from one sex to another is universal, that clothing may depict male or female likeness, but that underneath the sex, is opposite of what is above. She also dwells on the multiplicity of the self…”

Consequently, I want all the “feminine” or non-stereotypically “masculine” men out there to unite and claim their gender bending rights! Roy Simmons, a former offensive lineman with the New York Giants and with the Super Bowl winning Washington Redskins in the 1980s and the second NFL player to come out as gay, in a book about him called Out of Bounds had this to say: “To me, I am and always have been Roy Simmons. Labels are for people trying to define me—that’s their problem. The only insight I can offer into my sexuality is that I did exactly what everybody else around me did when I was growing up: when I came into my sexual maturity, I went with the flow, and for me the flow moved naturally to boys and girls. I found out soon that I like dick and pussy in almost equal measure—you don’t need a label to enjoy either one. A label is for the outside trying to look in.”

Recently, a large number of stereotypically “masculine” men have come out as Gay, Bisexual or Transgender, like former Gold Medal Winning decathlete Caitlyn Jenner, born Bruce Jenner. During his last 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer back on April 24^th, 2015 before he transitioned to Caitlyn Jenner, Sawyer asked him about his sexuality and to which he replied, “Sexuality is who you go to bed with, gender is who you go to bed as…”

Among other high profile “masculine” athletes who have come out as gay or bisexual to challenge the contentious ideologies of masculinity are:

Carl Nassib, who became the first active National Football League (NFL) player to come out as gay. Luke Prokop, who became the first NHL player to come out as gay. Michael Sam was the first openly gay man drafted into the NFL. Ryan Russell became the first openly bisexual person in the NFL and in any major professional league. Ryan O’Callaghan who came out as gay after retiring from the NFL. John Amaechi who came out as gay in 2007, four years after retiring from the National Basketball Association (NBA). Glenn Burke became the first gay man in the Major League Baseball (MLB). Robbie Rogers was the first openly gay soccer player in a professional league. Jason Collins was the NBA’s first openly gay player. Meanwhile, Orlando Cruz became the first openly gay man in boxing and Darren Young in wrestling.

The list goes on and on…see it in full with this link: https://www.insider.com/professional-athletes-who-are-lgbt

In contemporary society, it is becoming increasingly unacceptable for men to objectify women. The days of “cat calling” (e.g. Wolf whistle, “Hey baby, can I get your number?”, “Nice ass!” etc…) is becoming passé. In addition, when it comes to having sexual freedom, the double standard of toadying men and shaming women has also been exposed and reassessed.

All of this and more are part of the concepts of masculinity: what it means to be a “real man.”

Today, a plethora of men are redefining their own manhood and not simply acquiescing to pre- established and progressively antiquated prototypes of masculinity. Terminologies like “house husbands” and “stay-at-home dads” are part of newfangled lexicon. Today’s men tend to be more expressive about their feelings and famous men like the comedian and actor Chris Rock have admitted to going to therapy.

In a People Magazine article by Eric Todisco titled: “Chris Rock Reveals He Does Seven Hours of Therapy a Week Since Onset of COVID-19 Pandemic” published on Dec. 10, 2020. Todesco writes that Rock unbosomed himself to the Hollywood Reporter about his therapy, revealing that he has been focusing on rectifying “childhood traumas”.

“I thought I was actually dealing with it, and the reality is I never dealt with it…” Rock stated. 

Hence as you can see, it is becoming incrementally acceptable for men to find ways to cope with their feelings, which most of them (me included) were told they should not have or must not show. Alternatively, it is no longer acceptable to use coping patterns like drinking, drugging, physical violence and abusing women and children. To do so now will result in official consequences due to new and better-implemented domestic violence laws.

Today, you need not behave like a galoot with a “cave man” mentality to affirm your masculinity. Violence and intimidation—both archetypally associated with masculinity—are not “strengths”; they are personal weaknesses. As Argentinian revolutionary writer George Louis Borges once said, “Violence is the last resort of the weak.”

Some of the strongest men in history did not use force and fear to exert their masculinity. Iconoclasts like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world through non-violent means. It is easier to react violently like an unruly toddler than it is to respond thoughtfully like a mature man.

Therefore, for those of you who are questioning your gender identity (masculinity, femininity) and sexuality (lesbian, gay, straight, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersexed, asexual and questioning), know that the only one who can define you is you. Do not allow external forces keep you from experiencing internal freedom, whether you identify as masculine, feminine or both! After all, what is more divine than knowing both masculine and feminine energies?

Jacques Fleury is a Boston Globe featured Haitian-American Poet, Author, Educator and literary arts student at Harvard University online. His latest book “You Are Enough: The Journey to Accepting Your Authentic Self”  & other titles are available at all Boston Public Libraries, the University of Massachusetts Healey Library, University of  Wyoming , The Harvard Book Store, The Grolier Poetry Bookshop, Amazon etc…  He has been published in prestigious  publications such as Muddy River Poetry Review, the Cornell University Press anthology Class Lives: Stories from Our Economic Divide, Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene among others…Visit him here:  http://www.authorsden.com/jacquesfleury.