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Andy Webb: Some Men and Necessary Miles

Many thanks to Andy Webb for sharing two wonderful poems with us. In his poems, Andy beautifully engages with the ideas of masculinity and vulnerability.

Andy Webb: Some Men and Necessary Miles

I am currently attending Men’s Mental Health course run by Rotherham Flourish (Connected Worlds). This course has helped me to express through poetry a positivity and resilience in the face of difficulty, and for that I am truly grateful.

Some Men

Some men explore, some men.
Some men are behind a closed door, some men.
Some men build massive structures, some men.
Some men deconstruct particles, some men.
Some men choose from a variety of luxuries, some men.
Some men make do with very little, some men.
Some men don’t follow a tribe, some men.
Some men wear colours with pride, some men.
Some men don’t look at the past, some men.

Some men carry what they cannot leave behind, some men.
Some men live in peace, some men.
Some men are at war, so others have peace, some men.

Necessary Miles

Waiting in line.
Same shapes, different order,
at about the same time.
Often in the dark,
more so in the light.

The timetable’s honest; unspoken relief,
ready excuses shelved for the gaffer’s grief,
Paid in full, by cash or pass,
the prices warrant a complaint,
But not now,
don’t be crass.

People watching;
a conversation, a smile,
a soap opera unfolding.
Same faces, same seats,
same papers, same streets.

These necessary miles,
for now they’re done,
and, after the labours, retraced,
for tomorrow shapes will wait again

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