Stone Soup Servings is a regular series for Oddball Magazine that features upcoming performers at Stone Soup Poetry, the long-running spoken word venue in the Boston area that has recently partnered with Oddball Magazine. Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m.

On July 28, Stone Soup continues it’s continuing spotlight on the group Flatline Poetry with member Guillermo Caballero. Follow his work and continue to follow Flatline Poetry here.

 

Letters to a Brother

I’m trying to write this letter/
Between libraries and coffee shops/
Brother/
I’m struggling/
Wondering how to tell you all of this/
And a letter/
Is the best I can come up with/
It’s all I can do to prevent you from witnessing my exhaustion/
Cause my tears/
Are pools of undiscovered coves in 3rd world countries/
But/
Why do I have to use euphemisms in order to explain my pain/
As if males are another species with no tear ducts/
As if we are so savage that we don’t feel/
Brother/
I’m hurting more than I can explain/
And all I want to do is cry in public…/
When I was in 6th grade I sent a letter to Santa/
In my naive hopes for one wish/
All I wanted for Christmas/
Was to have at least one day that I could express my sadness the way humans do/
Instead/
I got a pair of Ray bans to ban anyone from witnessing my emotions/
Brother/
Everyday all I want to do is cry/
My tears are watermarks to the sealed envelopes of my feelings/
Forever lost in the post office/
I stopped sending letters to Santa that following year/
Brother/
I know that sounds childish/
But maybe we need to feel like children in order to be accepted as people/
I just need you to listen to me
I know you’re in arms about racial issues/
Trust me/
These issues have been wrapping around my neck too/
But a wise individual once told me that nothing is more gendered than race or more racial than gender…/
You have to be aware/
Males violence towards women/
And I know, I know you say I’m not like those guys/
But that doesn’t mean that we are not held accountable for our words/
When you say/
“You bitch/”
“Aw man you’re such a pimp/”
“Man that test raped me…/”
What do you exactly mean by bitch?/
Have you ever read what pimps really do?/
Have you,/
Ever held a lover in your arms as they cried about their rape…/
I need you to listen/
Masculinity/
Is just another word for half of your humanity/
And all of your foolishness/
Brother maybe I don’t need to ask permission for public displays of emotions/
But instead/
Pray that we can battle our demons/
Because the boogeyman man was never under the bed/
Instead he was staring in the mirror…this whole time/
Brother/
Maybe, we both tried to fill our fathers shoes/
Knowing,/
That pair was never meant for walking in a field of flowers or watching the stars/
Brother/
I feel like/
I’m fighting like it won’t make a difference/
Breathing like it’s my last breath and I know I’m going to drown/
And if I fall/
I’ll fall like I know it will kill me/
Cause I’ll be damned if I didn’t try/
Brother,/
All I want is for people to treat my mother with respect/
For men to talk to my friends like women and not bitches/
And for my lover/
To walk down the street without fear/
For/
The social, economic, and political equality of 51% of the population/
For/
The emotional freedom and empathy of the other 49% of the population/
I’m sorry/
For every time my voice was the sound of grass growing/
When I should’ve became Spartan shield to defend you/
So brother, please re-read this letter/
With an empathetic mind and open heart/
Listen,/
Then speak up/
For both of our well beings/
With much love/
A revolutionary that decided to listen to his sisters/
PS-
You, umm.., still owe me like 50 bucks from that last bet/
I told you she was right/