Lobster Cage Masculinity

It long been said

That if you put a single lobster in a tank

He will find his way out

But if you put him around other lobsters

They will drag him back down to the bottom of the tank to suffer the same fate

 

And aren't men the same way?

The more one of us tries to escape the masculinity mindset

The more we get dragged back down to the bottom of the tank

Like a lobster looking for freedom

Like a man in search of himself

 

Why bother putting a lid on a tank

If a lobster can save you the trouble

Why bother telling men they can be strong

When men will use their strength as a claw

Pulling each other down

 

That is to say that lobsters aren't considered intelligent

So why then do we act the same?

Because men think with their muscles and not with their hearts

Or is that just the way they've been conditioned to think

That we have no lid so we must be our own restraint

 

Promised the opportunity to escape

Overcome by everyone trying to do the same

Allowing ourselves to get pulled back down

Claws out

Muscles out

 

It has long been said that men are fickle creatures

But it has never been said that men can't be fickle

Because fickle requires intelligence

And if we are anything like the lobster

We are anything but intelligent

 

Lobster Cages of Success and Creativity

Of Masculinity

Of men

Clawing away

At our own freedom

 

Ironic that men choose lobsters to eat based on

Attractiveness

Size

And value

When really don't we do the same?

 

The more appealing to the eye a man is

The bigger

The richer

The better his chances for escape

But as free lobsters know the only way to escape is to hurt those around you

 

To prevent them from escaping so you can instead

Because somehow being devoured by society

Is better than not being eaten at all

To be caught and killed

A better prize than to never achieve

 

If living up to destiny is supposed to be an accomplishment

Then why shouldn't we lower the bar

Or at least take off the lid

Oh wait we already did

And yet we still chose to put our own back on

 

Rubber bands around our claws do nothing

They just keep us from pinching ourselves

Convincing ourselves that the reality we're living in isn't the one we're forced

To be a part of

But it is

 

And that's why it doesn't matter how many men/lobsters you put in a cage

As long as there's more than one

They will always find a way to bring each other down

To suffer a collective fate

Of never ending lobster cage masculinity

 

 

 

 

This poem is about: 
Me
My community
My country
Our world

Comments

Adventure_cat

Hey, honestly its the same for women in a way . . . we ourselves drag each other down at times, maybe all the time. I really liked your poem by the way, it allowed me to reflect about this issue where as otherwise, had I not seen your poem, I wouldn't have really thought about it since it wouldn't neccesarily come to mind. Your poem talks about an important issue and it allowed me to properly not only reflect but also connect, this says a lot about your poem. It's a really great poem <3

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