Are You a Man?

Consider what you first did swear unto, To fast, to study, and to see no woman But here's the trick: it's flat treason Against the kingly state of youth Your stomachs are too young to fast, And abstinence will make you sick We made a vow to study lords, and In that vow we have forsworn our books, We've lost the war For when would you, or you, or you Have ever found such words in books As the poems you sang before for love? What is a vow except to be broken? What is an oath except to be unspoken? What is contract but a meaningless token? Are you a man or just the plan your parents made? Are you a man or just a flannel suit waiting to get paid? Are you a man or just some Bran Flakes and another inside trade? Love courses swift as thought In every power, And gives to every power, A double power, A lover's eye will gaze an eagle blind, A lover's ear will hear the lowest sound Are you a man or just a Xanax and a bleeding ulcer? Are you a man or just a fantasy football girl-repulser? Are you a man and can you learn to see, That women are the arts, the books, the academes That teach and show and nourish all the world? Then fools you were these women to forswear, or keeping what is sworn you will prove fools! For wisdom's sake, a word that all men love, Or for love's sake, a word that loves all men, Or for men's sake, the authors of these women, Or for women's sake, by whom we men are men! Are you a man Or just a can of old ideas and words? Are you a man Or just a channel playing Revenge of the Nerds? Are you a man Or just an MBA candidate who followed the herd? Love is learning, And the heart and brain are one, Love is learning, And before this night is done, Pues, ¿sos un hombre o sólo haces lo que tus papas te dicen? Let's lose our oaths to find ourselves, Not lose ourselves to keep our oaths, We'll learn to love our ladies, then Our learning will surely make us men! Are you a man or just the plan your parents made? Are you a man or just a flannel suit waiting to get paid? Are you a man or just some Bran Flakes and another inside trade? Let's lose our oaths to find ourselves, Not lose ourselves to keep our oaths, We'll learn to love our ladies, then What is a vow except to be broken? What is an oath except to be unspoken? What is contract but a meaningless token? Let's lose our oaths to find ourselves, Not lose ourselves to keep our oaths, We'll learn to love our ladies, then Our learning will surely make us men!