TOUGHEN UP

By Russell Hodgkinson

The Chief master sergeant

Screams to high heaven

Gimme a break dad

I’m only seven

Most of his anger

Is geared toward my brothers

I run away

hide under the covers

I am a nice kid

Well liked at school

It’s my home where I find

The intense ridicule

My brothers are bullies

They tease with aggression

They call me a sissy

They mock my expression

Football and baseball

I just wasn’t lovin

I secretly longed

for an easy bake oven

What’s wrong with you Rusty

Are you off your rocker?

Know wonder they laugh

and call you “Betty Crocker”!

I found so many ways

To numb all the pain

Creatively searching

To hide secret shame

Just “toughen up”

my mom used to say

But all that I heard

was that “you’re not okay”

My brothers are rough & tough

So insane

I’ll show them all

When I jump from a plane