Odysseus had it in spades / watching silently back of the cave / as Polyphemus chawed on the head of a mariner / the latest test of his testosterone character

a twitch of the cheek / a narrowing of the eyes
a flare of the nose / a mirthless smile

It’s a masculine trope that runs pretty deep / where pain is temporary and life is cheap / from Beowulf squaring off to Grendel / to John Wick killing a guy with a pencil / men in extremity reining it in / the rideable pain, the brutal win

a twitch of the cheek / a narrowing of the eyes
a flare of the nose / a mirthless smile

it was men who wrote all the sacred texts / the books & tracts, the films at the multiplex / it was men who approved this final message / and all the grief their posturings presage

a twitch of the cheek / a narrowing of the eyes
a flare of the nose / a mirthless smile

so now we have suits at the biggest tables / cornfed on hi-cal masculine fables / the art of the deal, the art of war / deity, demon, carnivore / horus, gurzil, chiyou, woden / scythes & missiles, security cordons / shiva, futsunushi, mixcoatl, mars / epaulettes, medals, bulletproof cars / endless close-ups on the evening news / autocues of martial views

a twitch of the cheek / a narrowing of the eyes
a flare of the nose / a mirthless smile

maybe one day the script will flip / and the hairy handed lose their grip / and communities work in cooperation / worshipping creation and not destruction / with a range of deities who reflect the mystery / of life in all its rich complexity / without the judgement of some guy in a beard / whose idea of love is to be followed and feared / or he’ll batter you with plagues and floods and choirs / then throw you down in a lake of fire / all with the very best of intentions / his face betraying the usual expressions

a twitch of the cheek / a narrowing of the eyes
a flare of the nose / a mirthless smile