I don’t mean to say that men are pitbulls / but the nature / of them is the same / as the nature / of categories / flawed / at times to the root / of horror and red / rivers so deep / there is no walking / but wading through the world / and I am not free / of blemishes and character marks / but I am more river / than river-maker / so I claim the stain / of those like me / slain before safety / could be lightly promised / in certain lands / if I did not / it would betray / every child who yearned / to wear cheap barrettes / in their boyish hair / and floral dresses / to pre-k / I am not the savior / of the he’s / I cannot live / a lie to redefine / what a he can be / he’s need to save / himselves and dam / the river of the rest / of us because men / are not pitbulls / I have been loved / by the dogs / because they want / to love unless / they are trained to not / and often / those ones are trained / by the men / trained by men
—
Tim Neil is an actor and poet from Baltimore, MD. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Poet Lore, Washington Square Review, Los Angeles Review, and Ligeia.
Artwork by: James Fitzgerald