MEN DON'T CRY — A LIE WE WERE TAUGHT
In the middle of pain… in the middle of grief…
There's always that voice, crawling close to our ears:
"Don't cry. Men are not meant for tears."
And maybe—just maybe—
that is why so many stories end too soon,
so many lives bow out in silent, painful briefness.
"Men are not meant to cry."
Then tell God to take the tears out of our eyes.
Tell Him to seal them shut if we are truly meant to be stone.
Because even when the one you love the most
lies still…
with the final goodnight resting on his face—
they still whisper that line.
But let me tell you the truth today:
"Men don't cry" is a lie.
A big one.
Pain does not disappear until it escapes.
It will sit inside you,
rot inside you,
choke you slowly from the inside—
all because you wanted to look "strong."
All because the world said tears are a crime for men.
If men shouldn't cry,
then call us machines.
Call us shadows.
Call us anything but human—
because grief is the language of the heart,
and hearts bleed through tears.
Every day, men fall.
Every day, we ask "why?"
But how can a tree survive
when every storm is stored inside its trunk?
We bottle everything,
and then they wonder
why we break in silence.
"Don't cry. Men don't cry."
But letting a tear fall
feels like placing your crown on the ground.
We force our emotions to swallow themselves,
and when they finally overflow,
they still tell us to wipe them away.
Listen—
Pain expressed is far safer than pain imprisoned.
And if I were to comfort you,
I'd say:
Let it out.
Let your tears flow like the Pacific—
vast, wild, unashamed.
And trust me…
I'll be right there beside you,
handkerchief in hand,
ready to help you dry
the ocean beneath your eyes.