When A Man Cries

When a child cries the tears rise quickly
Spill hot and prickly down the reddened cheeks
Just to leave as quickly as they came
And peace returns again
When a child cries you know about it
They scream and shout until the hurt is gone
Like a shower of rain that for a moment
Hides away the sun
But when a man cries it’s choked and throttled
It’s all been bottled up for far too long
And when at last the pressure cooker blows
It’s hard to stem the flow
When a man cries his body shakes
And his eyeballs ache
And his mind vibrates
But he doesn’t make a sound
Don’t wanna wake the house now
Well the reasons are vague and hard to put in words
Just a dull abstract ache, don’t wanna worry her
She would only ask what’s wrong and I’d try to say
Then she’d take all my pain and explain it away
But who can explain why a man cries
When a man cries he cries alone
And for just a moment he’s back at home
Cradled in his mother’s arms
Free from guilt and safe from harm