Disappointment

The boy, he lied, would not say why, nor did he shed a tear or cry, when flayed; across his father’s knee. He’s not what they want him to be. He’ll work the mine; that was unsaid. Every day, he was instead caught spending time with poetry. He’s not what they want him to be. “He needs to mix with real men.” And so it came to be; he, when fifteen, became an enlistee. He’s not what they want him to be.