Familiar Echoes - a Poem About Strength in Vulnerability for Men

I dared to speak to other men - How hard it was to start
I shifted from my empty head and trawled within my heart
 
And in the padlocked chambers that I’d kept locked so tight
I found some dark and desperate things, that were as dark as night
Pains that I had held for years, for fear of letting go
Things I’d never dared to speak or ever let them show
But as I mustered courage - to share with other men
The light of truth shone in the dark and helped me grow again
 
And as I trusted shared and laughed
In this circle of good friends
My heart felt clean and open and I could live again
So many disappointments had cluttered up my soul
The years of expectations lost
Made me feel – less than whole
 
I’d often felt a victim
That life just wasn’t fair
And many times, felt people round me, really didn’t care
I longed to feel accepted and struggled to keep pace
But my body tensed with anger
It was etched upon my face.
 
But as I dared to open
And learned to trust again
I heard familiar echoes
From hearts of other men
 
They too had trod a rocky path and dream’t of being free
And some of them had lived much pain - yet know one else could see
But as these men began to trust – and let the dark see light
  Unconditioned love took root – and hearts could then take flight
 
Open up the hidden heart
And never be afraid
Too long we’ve held our pretence – relationship betrayed.
 

Mike hammond