TOUGHNESS 1
Being tough is easy
(It’s being a poet that’s hard)
Just say goodbye to friendship
Put on your emotional armour
Keep your feelings frozen
Pretend you’re ambitious
It’s a perfect deception
You’ll be a hero
But you’ll be stuck
Yes, you’ll be admired
Worshiped for your prowess
You may even feel like a god
But you will be all alone
There’s no way down
Only failure
Or death.
TOUGHNESS 2
So when I think of toughness I get stuck
If we’re talking of a piece of meat
It’s simply something hard to eat
If fabric I would opt for leather
Though it would depend upon the weather
As an act, it can be hard to follow
I’ve been chewing on it far too long
All that fear and pain is simply wrong
An idea that is difficult to swallow
Especially if you’re saddled with tough luck.
TOUGHNESS 3
I’m not at all tough
Luckily I’m good at bluff
I once faced down a boy the size of a bear
In a bit of a state
Brandishing a chair
The trick is not to hesitate
And give them a look that says beware
Then calm them with fairness, reason and care
Make them feel they’ve done enough
TOUGHNESS 4
People who go around being tough all the time
Are not really very nice
But life isn’t fair
And it’s often the innocent bystanders
Who pay the price
Real toughness is a state of mind
Learnt within the self
Often by timid or quiet people
Or those who seek atonement for a crime
And great courage is a wondrous thing
An overwhelming compassion
Towards another’s suffering
And the willingness to see it as their time
To be the sacrifice
TOUGHNESS 5
Toughness is taking a cold shower
By splashing water while standing
In a broken plastic basin.
Toughness is sleeping in the open
With one person on watch
For police searching on sus.
Toughness is hiding in food bins,
Dead bodies with rat holes
Big enough to put your face in.
Toughness is spending your last penny
On food so you have to walk ten miles
Instead of taking the bus.
Toughness is admitting to a fear
Of refugees because we know
That they are tougher than us.
M R McBride
Autumn 2019
