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