Man up! Little things. Little messages. Little words and phrases
   piled up over the many long years of childhood. Looking up for
   recognition and validation yet left, feeling a void when it
   doesn't come. "Man up!" Ok, I'll man up. Stuff the hurt and tuck
   it away. Suddenly, REWARD - respect, validation, recognition!

   But of what? Me? Or for successfully donning the mask of manhood
   and believing it, while hiding the small boy deep in the corner.
   He's quiet. Even deep within, he doesn't make a peep. Even the
   inner child has to man up.

   But his uncertainty remains yet his voice remains silent, even
   from the man who carries him around. Kenneth Udut - 10/02/2015