Cry like a man

Cry like a man, I told my son. Leave nothing unfelt. Love is scarce and may yet run Leaving you nought but a pelt. Be brave, for true courage is when You act whilst filled with fear. I told him such again and again Hoping he would hear. And so I watched my son in spirit grow As his body became that of a man. Curiosity his intellect & knowledge did grow And I was his biggest fan. Until that day-- Dad, this hurts But I was unconcerned. In men's hubris, fate flirts, In my son's body, pain burned. For two days we waited for those damned stones to pass, For two needless days he suffered. And on day three we went to the ER Knowing the pain was the tougher. I thought this is ok, everything's alright Even as we waited all afternoon As the sun fell late and approached the night, We got abdominal images laced in black festoon. Metastatic carcinoma, and I felt my blood run cold. No known source, though the technician sought Through all the organs, to see which would hold The source, the primary, an evil bolus blot. Go home, she said, and take this for pain. I steeled myself strong and firm. Though inside I crumbled, weak and wane, For my son's fears and mine, I was herm. I drove back numb, screaming inside, In the silence we barely spoke. Later when he fled this nightmare to hide, I clutched at my wife and broke.